Bloom where you are planted

 Bloom where you are planted

By Bobby Neal Winters

Age has, to a certain degree, brought me peace.

I used to worry about politics.  I used to follow my political party’s candidates like my friends who like sports follow the members of their favorite team.

I’m done with that now.

Maybe because I am tired now: Tired of being angry; tired of being lied to.  Maybe it’s because I’ve grown cynical:  cynical about the politicians on both the left and right.

It certainly can be because I’ve grown any wiser.  I don’t remember that ever happening.

But I am at peace, and, believe it or not, I am happy.

I admire the people who can survey the horizon and see a beautiful destination on it.  Then, having seen that destination, they go ahead to plot a course to that destination. Then, having plotted that course, they go ahead and do what needs to be done, come hook or crook, come hell or high water, to make their way to that destination.  Yes, while I admire them, I cannot say that I number myself among them.

I’m of a different sort now.

Whatever my initial ambitions, I came to a point in my life where I decided to be happy.

It was a decision.

I will grant that I’ve been lucky in the most important aspects of my life, the first among these being my choice of a spouse. I’ve been lucky to have received an education without amassing debt; I’ve been lucky to have lived the bulk of my life during a time of peace and security. I’ve been lucky to have good health, both physically and mentally.

This all granted, I know of people who have all of those things and perhaps more, but are not happy.

I’ve decided to be happy.  It has been my decision.

I can’t put a date on it.  At some point, I looked around me, and said: This is where I am; this is where I live; this is my life; I am going to live it.

In the 29th Chapter of Jeremiah, the prophet conveyed God’s message to his people: “Build ye houses, and dwell in them; and plant gardens, and eat the fruit of them; Take ye wives, and beget sons and daughters; and take wives for your sons, and give your daughters to husbands, that they may bear sons and daughters; that ye may be increased there, and not diminished. And seek the peace of the city whither I have caused you to be carried away captives, and pray unto the Lord for it: for in the peace thereof shall ye have peace.”

This is what life is going to be.  This is as good as it gets.  There is no reset button. There are no do-overs. Get on with your life and start living it.

As I said, I’ve been blessed in all the basic areas of my life, so this has been easy for me. Jeremiah, however, was talking to political refugees:  People who’d been uprooted from their homes and moved forcibly to the land of their captor. The message from God that he had was for those people to embrace their new reality.  You are living here, so build yourselves a rich life here.

The decision to be happy can look a lot like the decision to bloom where you are planted.

There are small things you can do to help with this. One simple thing is to learn people’s names; let them know yours; be friendly; be kind.  After a while, they will smile when they see you come through the door.

That makes me happy.

Now I am not going to lie to you.  There are plenty of things to worry about in politics.  Each party curses the other party as being the worst sort of liar, crook, and hypocrite there is.  Having listened to both sides for many years now, I think they are both right.

It could be that we are going to live through a rough time.  I don’t know.  But if we do, it’s something that people have done before.

But as I’ve said.  This has come to me with age. Younger people are harder to convince.  God be with them.

Bobby Winters, a native of Harden City, Oklahoma, blogs at redneckmath.blogspot.com and okieinexile.blogspot.com. He invites you to “like” the National Association of Lawn Mowers on Facebook. Search for him by name on YouTube.