Blessed are you when men revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on My account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven. Matthew 5:11-12

There is a book called “The Energy Bus” by Jon Gordon. It is about how to create positive energy in your life. In the Foreword to this book, written by Ken Blanchard, Mr. Blanchard he mentions an exercise that he does at business seminars. He asks people to greet one another as if they are unimportant. There is a sense of dullness as people walk around trying to ignore one another. Then he asks them to greet people as if they were long-lost friends. Suddenly there is laughter, enthusiasm, smiles and hugs all around. The lesson here is that to run a successful organization, you need to have energy. Blanchard then writes: “’What did I do to change the energy in the room?’ I ask. Then I answer: ‘All I did was change your focus from a negative thought to a positive thought and the energy of the room increased tenfold.’”

This is an excellent exercise that I have tried both at summer camp with young adults and in my parish with our parish leadership. I asked them to greet one another with indifference. And then to greet each other with enthusiasm. And it was amazing to see the dichotomy of doing this simple thing two ways.

So much of life works this way as well. Perspective is important and so is attitude. One can choose to come to an event in either a positive or a negative way. One can come to a positive event in a negative way and then the positive event becomes a negative. For instance, let’s say you are offered free tickets to attend a sporting event with friends. That’s a great thing, or it should be. At the very least, you are out with friends and it is free. But let’s say that your team doesn’t play well, and the food is not that great, and the line getting into the stadium is long, you can quickly change your perspective from a free night out with friends and make it a miserable experience.

On the other hand, if you choose to focus on the friends and the free night, rather than the score, the food or anything else, the night is going to be a great night. It’s all a matter of perspective.

There are plenty of things we all do that we don’t like doing. In every family, in every job, in every life, there are a good number of things we’d all rather not do. I hate (and that’s the right word) sitting through programs where there are endless speeches. I’ve gone to way too many of them. We all know what the scene looks like. Big white plates with three pieces of overcooked meat on them, vegetables “au a word I can’t pronounce,” some dessert that sounds disgusting with a price tag that I can’t really afford. Then there are several speakers who think that if you don’t talk for at least 20 minutes apiece they aren’t giving a good speech. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve gone to an event like this, and stopped at Taco Bell on the way home because I didn’t get enough to eat at the $100 a plate dinner.

I also can’t tell you how many times I’ve been to events like this and made a new friend, or met someone who played a prominent role in my ministry later on. I’ve met one of my doctors at an event like this. I’ve gotten ideas for sermons and reflections from conversations at some of these events. When I go to one of these events, I have to remind myself to be positive, to look for positive possibilities. Because if all I think of is negative things, I will have virtually no chance for any positive outcome.

Whether one feels encouraged and uplifted often depends on what they bring to the table. And whether one encourages or discourages others often depends on the same. Coming at a situation with indifference or worse is going to make for a “blah” experience, just like the experience of greeting people described in “The Energy Bus.” Coming at a situation with enthusiasm, even a situation we’d rather not be in, can turn something from being dreaded to actually being positive. Playing off the title of this book, does your life resemble an “energy bus,” filled with energy, enthusiasm and positivity? Or does your bus resemble an indifference bus, filled with negativity?

Something as simple as a smile versus a scowl changes energy and perspective. I was recently with two people both of whom I actually approached with a degree of intimidation. One of them smiled throughout our conversation, made me feel welcome and important. Though this is someone I didn’t know well at all, I left with a positive impression and can’t wait to interact with him again. The other scowled throughout the conversation, never made me feel comfortable, in fact, it’s like he intentionally kept me off-balance. It was a relief when that conversation ended. It not only left me with a negative impression, but a degree of trepidation when it comes to future conversations.

So much of how we deal with situations and people that come our way is dependent on our perspective, on how we approach them—do we come with energy, or indifference? And so much of how we impact others is also based on perspective—do we approach with a smile or with a scowl?

Today’s Bible verse is part of the Beatitudes, prescriptions for daily living as they have been called by many. We are reminded that when we are reviled and slandered, we should feel blessed, in fact Christ tells us that we should “rejoice and be glad.” (Matthew 5:12) If we make it a goal to rejoice and be glad in both good times and bad, to bring positive energy even to a negative situation, and to wear a smile instead of a frown, it’s going to make a difference not only in our lives but in the lives of those around us.

Encouragers bring energy, positivity and a smile. That doesn’t mean that encouragers don’t sometimes lack energy, positivity or get sad. However, it means that they strive for energy and positivity, and they begin from this perspective.

Lord, thank You for the gift of a new day. Even if this day is going to be filled with challenges, thank You that I am alive to face them. Help me to see the good in situations and in people today. Help me to have energy, even when I feel tired. Help me to be positive, even when I’m down. And help me to smile, even when I’m upset. Put people into my path today to need some positive energy, and give me the wisdom and patience to offer these things to them. Amen.

Bring energy, positivity and a smile to whatever you do and whoever you meet today!

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