From Refrigerator Grief to Refrigerator Gratitude
Here’s a little 1960’s nostalgia. Remember the musical “Bye Bye Birdie” and Dick Van Dyke and Janet Leigh singing “Put on a Happy face”? Most of my comrades from that era, and even you youngsters, might enjoy watching it. In fact, you just might get a happy face from it!
Gray skies are gonna’ clear up. Put on a happy face;
Brush off the clouds and cheer up, Put on a happy face.
Take off the gloomy mask of tragedy, It’s not your style.
You’ll look so good that you’ll be glad; Ya’ decided to smile!
And if you’re feeling cross and bitterish; Don’t sit and whine.
Think of banana split and licorice; And you’ll feel fine.
I knew a girl so gloomy; She’d never laugh or sing.
She wouldn’t listen to me; Now she’s a mean old thing.
So spread sunshine all over the place. Just put on a happy face.
What great advice! Who wants to wear a “gloomy mask of tragedy” or be a “mean old thing”? Not me! Too much to be grateful for while “spreading sunshine all over the place”.
It was one year ago, February 23rd, 2021 that I moved to Austin and my new community. What a great place to live with an abundance of wonderful friends. Many have come to feel like close family members.
I moved here, right after the great “freeze” in the South. This brand-new building suffered tremendous damage when pipes burst, electricity was lost, no water and a host of other ripple-effect issues. When I moved in, I heard about the folks who weathered the storm with optimism and grace.
The whole experience, for those residents (the pioneers) who already lived here, it seemed to have brought them together as they heated water and food on the outdoor grills and joined together in sincere care for each other.
Fast forward to a couple of weeks ago when there was a ruckus about our refrigerators and their water filters needing to be replaced (if we wanted to use the water from our refrigerator). Some expressed they didn’t like the refrigerators at all or having to pay for the filter. But rather than siding in with the naysayers, one of our residents came through with a “Spread sunshine all over the place; just put on a happy face” optimistic attitude to turn the gray “refrigerator” skies to blue with these words of gratitude:
“I read the posts about the refrigerator filter, and I thought of the old wooden ice box standing in the corner of the dining room. The ice man would come with a big block of ice for the top compartment, which (theoretically) kept the contents below at a safe temperature. We had to change the drip pan as the ice melted. No ice maker. No filtered water. I remembered the water flowing from the faucets, brackish and unfit for consumption. The “water filtration system” was a three-block walk to the city pump, pumping the handle up and down to fill buckets with water, and carrying them the three blocks back home, trying not to spill too much.An electric refrigerator with temperature control? Ice maker? Filtered water at my fingertips? I think I’ll be grateful today.”
This gal helped change the perspective. We have far more reasons to be grateful than not. Warm homes, comfortable beds, cars, running water, refrigerators, stoves, microwaves, food on our table, love from friends and family, inner peace, and joy……and so much more. In a world where many have so little, shouldn’t we choose gratitude whenever we can?
Proverbs 15:30 “A cheerful look brings joy to the heart…” I think I’ll choose to spread sunshine all over the place…..and put on a happy face! How about you?