Affecting Others

I’ve noticed that my own mood affects or infects the moods of those around me. I think there are many of us who have similar natures.

The good news is that I can often turn around someone’s mood when I really want to do that. I can tease gently, or share a comical news item, or use any other method. I’ve noticed that when I am in a good mood, those around me tend to pick up on it and relax and enjoy themselves even if they were not doing so earlier.

The bad news is that when I am in a bad mood, others pick up on that, too. I’ve seen it happen way too often. It makes me angry with myself when I allow myself to ruin somebody’s previously good mood.

I believe God deliberately places some people on our paths, every day of our lives. Some are meant to help us on our journey. With others, we are meant to help them.
If I give in to a bad mood too often, then I am not helping the person(s) that God trusts me to help. I will probably never know who these people are but God knows. It could be a person in line when I’m on an errand. It could be the driver in front of me or behind me. It could be someone who calls me on the phone as a wrong number.

This insight is good for me. Instead of it pulling me down with guilt over mistakes in the past, mistakes which have probably affected people in the wrong way, I must allow it to pull me up. Knowing this should help me turn any negative mood into a positive one. At least, it should help me do it more often than I do now. I need to pray that God will show me when my mood could be more positive or more friendly.

Dear Father, forgive my bad moods and how they affect your other children; help me, please, to be aware of this problem, and help me to lift myself up, with your help, that I may then help others and brighten their day.