Advent – Joy – Day 20

I saw a sweatshirt while Christmas shopping, and I sure wish I’d picked it up.

The saying on the back: “What’s the best that could happen?”

I wouldn’t be giving it to anyone else, because I’d hoard it for myself.

You see, I’m more of a Debbie Downer than I’d like to admit. Life has trained me to be that way. Years of being a high school principal, never knowing who or what situation might walk through the door, set me up to prepare for worst-case scenarios. 

It’s what was expected when creating emergency action plans. Identifying potential risks, evaluating their impacts, and developing response plans are part of the work.

I had already been taught to keep my “head on a swivel,” as my dad said, when I was out shopping, attending college classes (especially walking to my vehicle after those 10:00 pm dismissal times), or enjoying other public events. 

I made a note of exits before looking at the menu at restaurants. I took stock of those around me in grocery stores. I paid attention to the vehicles behind me, and if I thought I was being followed, I’d take a different route.

These practices, in and of themselves, are not the worst things we can do. In fact, it’s common sense: securing personal safety gives us a better chance of surviving to see the sun rise tomorrow. 

We install smoke and carbon monoxide detectors in our homes to safeguard our lives. We also outfit our homes with cameras and security systems to safeguard personal property. We go to the doctor for checkups and tests to keep tabs on our physical health, in an attempt to head off any major issues.

We prepare for every possible situation to minimize the risk of life and limb, and that means asking ourselves:

“What’s the worst that could happen?”

Where it becomes a problem is when dwelling on the “what-ifs” steals our joy.

We also do worse things than just prepare for hard times that may never come. We’re hardwired with negativity bias, where we give more attention subconsciously to negative experiences than to the positive ones. 

We read the one bad product review on Amazon and let it sway our purchasing decision, even if we’ve already read ten glowing recommendations.

We focus on the “B” on our kid’s report card rather than all the “As” received. Come on, give your kid a break! Look at all those good grades!

Or we get a speech from a politician speaking about all the terrible, horrible things in the world, and those words, somehow, take our attention away from investigating the facts at hand, and certainly, from any good that might have happened.

One negative comment can stick with us for days, buzzing around in our head like a pesky mosquito. 

It’s easy to fall into a pit of despair if we’re constantly dwelling on the negatives. It’s like being stuck in a loop of bad vibes, where anxiety and depression have a greater likelihood to rear their ugly heads.

Yet if we kept a different kind of lookout, we’d find plenty of things to remind us that it’s not all bad. 

That’s what God would want you to do. After all, how many reminders do we have in Scripture about not worrying? One of the primary themes of God’s Word is that worrying is pointless, and it hurts us far more than it could ever help us.

Isn’t that what our negativity bias turns into? A worry-fest? Who wants to go to that kind of party? Yet in our misguided quest to try to save ourselves, we descend into a pit of despair that sucks the joy right out of living.

Instead, what are we to do?

Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.

Philippians 4:4-9

If it helps you to get a sweatshirt that says, “What’s the best that could happen?” then by all means, Amazon’s got quite a selection.

Just don’t read too many reviews before you buy.

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Reflection and Prayer – Where do you fall on the worry wart scale? How would reframing situations and choosing to look at the positive side help you? Pray that God would help lighten your worries and remind you of Scripture with which to battle the negative.