How Do You Stay Positive In A Crazy, Messed Up World?

 Sometimes I annoy people. I know this will shock you because how could someone like me possibly ever be annoying? Don't worry, don't worry, it doesn't happen all the time. Just like every few minutes or so. One of the many reasons why I can be annoying is because I wear my heart on my sleeve. I have a lot of trouble keeping my emotions to myself. And it's hard for me to understand how others do not have the same reactions I do.

If I'm excited about something, THEN DAG NABBIT WHY ISN'T EVERYONE ELSE JUMPING UP AND DOWN BECAUSE THIS IS THE COOLEST THING EVER AND HOW COULD YOU NOT BE HAVING HEART PALPITATIONS BASED ON THE SHEER AMAZINGNESS OF THIS EVENT OR ITEM OR CIRCUMSTANCE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Things that I get unbelievably excited about that don't seem to warrant the same reaction from others:

1. Delicious food of any kind
2. Chocolate milk (the real stuff, none of that Hershey's Syrup mixed with milk crud)
3. Discussions about anything related to Catholicism
4. Alton Brown
5. Delicious food
6. Pokemon
7. Delicious ice cream
8. Harry Potter
9. Really good food
10. Being a hippie while not being a hippie

If something irritates me, it's really hard for me to hide my reaction. Ummmm....could you please stop telling me how unhealthy it is to consume two gallons of chocolate milk in a three hour period? It's really irritating. Because just FYI I do this on a semi regular basis and no I'm not ashamed to admit it. Nor am I ashamed that I make my daughter go in the other room while I inhale drink the said chocolate milk so that she won't start whining because I won't share any with her. I'm just being a good parent...it's not healthy to consume so much chocolate milk in such a short amount of time.

Things that tend to irritate me:

1. Unorganized drawers and cabinets in my own house (ironic because my house if full of them...and every time I open one, the irritation creeps slowly in...)
2. Food that you think will be delicious but turns out gross
3. My dog's habit of eating her own poop (just being real here)
4. Wasting food
5. Speeding tickets
6. People who tell me I drink too much chocolate milk

If I think something is sad, it is unbelievable to me that no one else is crying their eyes out because how could they NOT think that the scene in The Fox and the Hound where Todd's owner drops him off at the forest with no intention of returning for him is the SADDEST MOVIE SCENE EVER???

Things that make me sad:

1. When I accidentally kill any type of bug. I can't kill bugs because whenever I do I cry. So whenever we find a spider in our house I make my husband carefully catch it and let it outside.
2. When baby birds fall out of their nests and I don't know for sure if their mom will come get them!!!
3. Running out of chocolate milk
4. When restaurants run out of food items that are delicious

But here's when I really start to annoy people. When I get mad about something, I get really mad. And I'm not talking about physically violent, like I start going around punching people. I never really have the urge to physically take out my anger on things. I'm talking about emotionally mad. Like, I can't believe that anyone would not find this offensively WRONG. I get so outraged, I can't understand why everyone else isn't either.

This is a problem that I have. I'm working on it. But here's why I think it annoys people: because we live in an apathetic culture. No one really cares or has opinions anymore. It's a "free for all", "do what works for you", "what I think is true might not necessarily be true for you", "hey man let's all get along" sort of thing. I can't handle it. I see the way our country and our world is going and it makes me ANGRY.

All last week the media was buzzing about these satanist groups. I've learned to be skeptical about anything the media says because they usually always get it wrong or twist it in some way. But the basic gist is this: one satanist group at Harvard wants to conduct a "Black Mass," in which they have a ceremony that mocks the Catholic Mass (some sources even say they will use a consecrated host, which is the most unbelievably disrespectful thing anyone could ever do to a Catholic since we believe that it actually IS Jesus Christ). Another satanist group wants to put up a statue of Satan in Oklahoma's capitol building.

The argument is always this: we have freedom of religion! Let them do what they want! They aren't hurting anyone! If the Christians can have church gatherings, let the satanists have theirs! If the statue of the 10 Commandments can be in the capitol building, why can't a statue of Satan?

Where's the line? I ask you, where is the line?? We have already crossed it many times over. Why are people so defensive of these types of groups, but judge Christians as being "haters" and "imposing?" We are getting into dangerous territory here. Who knows what the future holds for Christians? People laugh when I suggest that perhaps, in the not so far future, we will be imprisoned for expressing our beliefs. Why is that so outrageous to think? People are already getting fired for it. And perhaps, soon after that, we will be persecuted. It has happened before. It is happening now, in other parts of the world. And it very well could happen here, in the "Land of the Free."

I'm not saying this to be a Debbie Downer, or to get everyone feeling depressed and hopeless. The world has always had problems since the fall of Adam and Eve, and it will continue to have problems until the end of time. But God put us in this time for a reason. We must be aware of what is happening around us, and we must fight the good fight.

So here's what I want to know. Coming from someone who gets so outraged at the injustice happening around us, how do you stay positive? I have a few things I like to think of, and I would love to hear yours.

1) Acknowledge the problems, but focus on the good around us as well.
There are so many good people out there. It's easy to focus on the bad, but we must always remember that for every bad person, there are many more good people.

2) Count your blessings
I know this sounds cliché, but it is so important. We all have crosses we must bear and there is no such thing as a perfect society. As twisted as I believe our country is getting, I still love it. I have patriotism and am proud to be an American. I love its founding principals and I know that there are people out there who are trying their hardest to make our country a better place to live.

3) Remember that in the end, goodness wins.
This is perhaps the most comforting thought of all. I tell myself this all the time. As Christians, we have been told that throughout the struggles and wars and injustices we will face, in the end, God wins. We don't just believe this...we know this. Goodness will prevail. Love will triumph. Righteousness will be victorious.

We will fight the good fight.

And we WILL win.