Life bringers, life drainers. Which one are you?
“The me I want to be” by John Ortberg.
“Dr. Jilll Taylor was a thirty-seven-year-old, Harvard-trained brain scientist who suffered a massive stroke. The left side of her brain, which regulates speech and linear thinking, was devastated. For many months she lay in a hospital bed, unable to carry on a conversation. She writes of how even though she could not understand the words people were saying to her, she became intensely aware of whether the people approaching her were enhancing her sense of life or depleting it.
“I experienced people as concentrated packages of energy ……..although I could not understand the words they spoke, I could read volumes from their facial expression and body language. I paid very close attention to how their energy dynamics affected me. Some people brought me energy while others took it away.”
At a level deeper than words, deeper than exchanging information, every interaction with another person is a spiritual exchange. Some people are life-bringers to us. They increase our energy, deepen our hope, add to our joy, and call out the best in us. Other people are life-drainers. They add to our anxiety and invite us to cynicism. We find ourselves becoming defensive, depressed, or exasperated. “The me I want to be” by John Ortberg.
For me, I try hard to be a life-bringer. I try not to rain on anyone’s parade as long as I’m sure their parade isn’t going to get rained on if I don’t say something. And even that, I might choose to stay quiet. As long as it’s not immoral, or illegal, I try to be an encourager.
I mean I know how it feels when someone puts a damper on my plans. It’s kind of hard to get enthusiastic after that, isn’t it? I’m sure you’ve all been there at one time or another.
When I was eighteen I entered a local pageant. Someone very close to me was really negative about it. I mustered up my determination and went ahead anyway. I made the finals.
Sometimes we need good counsel, someone with a level head. Sometimes other people might need the same. But for the most part let’s be life-bringers. I want people to smile when they see me and smile when they leave me.
God bless and I hope you have a good day.
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