Some people live to channel negativity. Others are almost always positive. What gives? What's the difference between the two? My answer, from a human standpoint, is simple: choice. Some people just wake up and choose to be angry that day (or every day). And so they are. They react rudely and unnecessarily to things that I personally wouldn't ever think to take the effort to react that way to. I'm seeing these two different types of people very often as I'm working at the fast-food restaurant as a cashier. Some people are very cheerful, for little apparent reason, whereas others are very irritable and contentious, for little apparent reason. With all sincerity, I can tell you that the former type are much more pleasant.
Last Sunday, I ran into two interesting people that I otherwise would not have if I hadn't been working at a cash register that allows me to talk to hundreds of people each week. The lunch rush was over and when the young lady complimented me on my service and cheerful attitude (there's a theme in this blog post, see if you can find it), and made a comment to the tune that I was either really good at the job or seemed like I didn't seem to fit as a crew-member, I mentioned that I had graduated in May with a Bio degree. She turned out to be a regional recruiter for a job-recruiting company (that serves as an intermediary between businesses and candidates) and would pass me along to a friend/coworker who covers biology jobs. She gave me her work email and number and asked me to send her my resume. I told her I'd get in touch when I was next online. Then, just a few minutes later, I made a remark in passing, to another customer, that that conversation had just taken place, and he gave me his email and told me to send it to him so he could "tear it apart." That was exciting, and really improved my mood for the rest of the day.
Why'd I begin this by talking about people who choose to be negative? This is why. At my university, as I've already made mention of on this blog before, I've accumulated a number of persistent critics ('enemies' is a more appropriate word), whose every effort seems to be focused on tearing down and destroying with their words. It rarely hurts emotionally, because they cannot mock what they do not know. They'll make rude comments that just make themselves look silly. What it does make me feel is exhausted, just to bother reading it. How do they have time to be so deprecatory? So aggressively cynical and rude? It's a topic for another post.
Here's the conclusion to what I've been writing about. I'm very faithful, as you can readily tell, and my faith in Christ has given offense to proud bigots at the university that I attended. They know of this blog and will on occasion make rude remarks behind my back. I am certain that by pointing this out here, they are sure to do so more frequently, thinking that I have nothing else better to do with my time than to pay attention to them. At any rate, upon discovering that I had become employed at a fast-food restaurant, several of them seized upon the opportunity to mock me for it, making comments to the effect that it was all I would ever accomplish. You may see where I'm going with this. Their attitude is very poor, since they make the assumption that there are categories of jobs that are "beneath" a person, and this is really only unwarranted arrogance on their part making itself known. But it could turn out that God is going to use my current position in order to initiate the next phase of my journey through life. Could it be that via the people I met this week at work, I'll be given a job opportunity? Maybe not. But if it does happen, then I'm humble enough to realize that it would not have happened if I hadn't been working there, and I'll give God glory for it. He'll have taken the very thing my enemies mocked, and used it as the vehicle to springboard me into a better career.
Speculation. It might not happen now. But whether you appreciate the position you're in or become morose due to thinking you are being treated in a way you don't deserve is dependent on your choice. Will you honor God no matter where you are, even if you aren't getting what you hope for or expect? That's what I'll strive to do, at any rate.
~ Rak Chazak
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