This is a true story. The day was gray and dreary. As I mused upon life and its abundant problems, the day mirrored my mood. As the dark clouds covered the sky and hid the sun, so did my troubles hide the joy and happiness from my life. It seemed that nothing was going right in my life, everywhere that I looked, I saw more concerns and apprehensions. Slowly but surely, I was sinking into a mood of depression and could see no way to turn things around. I was staring out of my window when I saw something that I had not seen in years, not since I was a little girl. A bluebird landed on a post outside. The sight of that small creature, so filled with joy himself, shocked me out of my blue funk. For a moment I forgot all about my problems. As I watched the small feathered friend, I started to feel some of his happiness and sheer joy of living. Suddenly, I realized that the day didn't look so gloomy and desolate. In fact, as I looked more closely, I realized that the sky wasn't all gray, there were blue areas in it. Then the sun broke through the clouds. Suddenly, my problems and troubles didn't seem so unsurmountable, in fact I could begin to see some possible answers to some of those same problems that only moments ago had seemed to be unsolvable. I turned my thoughts to what had just happened, to the transformation in both the day and in myself. It dawned on me that the day probably had not been as gray and dreary as it had seemed, but had been colored by my own gray thoughts. When I saw that there was still some joy in the world, my perception of the day had changed. With that changed perception, I saw the day as it really was.
How often, I wondered, do we allow ourselves to miss out on the natural beauty around us by masking it with our own negative thoughts and emotions? This time, I had been lucky, I had truly seen the "Bluebird of Happiness." Then I wondered, was it simply luck, or had it been sent for the effect that seeing it would have on me? I chose to believe that someone had sent it.
Joyce Chandler
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