Help For Troubled Times

“We are all so very human. We sorely need to be understood, appreciated, cheered, thanked, complimented, encouraged.” ~ David Dunn, Try Giving Yourself Away: A Tonic For These Troubled Times

Finding Greater Happiness?

I re-read the book above a couple times a year. The copy I have was printed in 1947 and the introduction reads: “To every man and woman who is seeking greater happiness in these troubled times.”

I’ve mentioned it before in these blogs because it is full of “simple, cheerful, heartening ways to make your life much happier and to make the world around you a better place… starting immediately.”

Looking Outside Ourselves

When we are going through difficult, troubling, even agonizing times like a midlife divorce, we tend to focus on ourselves and our difficulties, and often we ignore others.

David Dunn suggests that all of us (regardless of our circumstances) should take little steps to understand, appreciate, compliment and encourage the people we come in contact with every day. We don’t even have to go out of our way.

These are people we meet and encounters that happen without any effort on our part. The guy at the drug store. The clerk at the office supply store. The young woman who gets our coffee at the coffee shop. The friend we’re meeting for lunch. Anyone we come in contact with is fair game for our encouragement and good cheer.

Be A Blessing

Today, lets all try, even while we are on this challenging divorce recovery road, to reach out and be a blessing to someone else. Try your own personal version of Giving Yourself Away today and see what happens. As David Dunn says, we ourselves will be blessed and our little piece of the world will be warmer and brighter as well.

“Summing up: Be agreeable, be sympathetic, be loving, be compassionate, be humble. That goes for all of you, no exceptions. No retaliation. No sharp-tongued sarcasm. Instead, bless —that’s your job, to bless. You’ll be a blessing and also get a blessing.” ~ I Peter 3:8-9 (The Message)