Morning Moodiness

    Starting your day off with negativity is miserable!  How do you wash clean of that and feel fresh and ready to go on with a good day?  We've all woken up on the wrong side of the bed, and often things go wrong without our permission (i.e. waking to a pot of coffee all over the counter and floor due to a clogged filter), but does this give us the right to bring others down with us?
    I remember those days of driving to work in downtown Atlanta and how a traffic jam could sour my day, or a rude driver's impatient honk could put me on edge for another hour or so.  I greatly admire those positive people who can smile when frowned at, can turn the other cheek when slapped, and can bless someone when spit upon.  I, sadly, struggle with this.  I am a people-pleaser and when people aren't pleased with me, I tend to obsess and dwell on it until it absorbs me completely. My poor family has endured many of my morning-moodiness, but they know I definitely try to take a break, a breath, and start fresh.  Even though my children insist upon a wake-up call at 7 am daily...school day or weekend, early turn in or late night, I know that the way I greet them each morning will set the tone for their day.  So this not-so-early-morning-person puts on a happy face, and gladly greets them so that the first words they hear are, "I love you!"  Our morning coffees and milks during Bible lesson are a calming soothing start to our day, plus give me a few quiet minutes to wake up to the right priorities.  Yet, often in a family of 6, someone did not wake up on the right side of the bed and the mood spreads through us all, like an illness weeding its way into all of our hearts.  This is when the Preachy side of Mom comes out and I remind them of how we "should" behave, or how we "should" forgive and move on (often I've been known to even lecture myself on this).  You know what?!  Those crazy kids CAN.  They let it go, and within minutes are humming along their merry way.  How can an "I'm sorry" or a shared smile solve their grievances?
    I pray the Lord teach me to be as a child, to forgive, to forget, to not take personally the trials of the day, but to bless others and spread His love instead of the gloom that threatens to blacken my moods and hang over the blessings that I might miss.