A Cheerful Disposition is Good for Your Health

The Proverbs says, “A cheerful disposition is good for your health; gloom and doom leave you bone-tired.” (Proverbs 17:22; The Message). We cannot always change our circumstances, but we can certainly change our outlook. In the long term, a cheerful heart leads to better health emotionally, physically, and spiritually in life. How about us? Do we fill our lives with gloom and doom? Or a cheerful disposition? We have a choice.

How do we make our hearts more cheerful? One way is maintaining a good attitude. The great motivator Zig Ziglar said, “Life is 90% attitude and 10% circumstances.” He would say, “It’s not what happens to you that determines how far you will go in life; it is how you handle what happens to you.” He would also say, “The choice to have a great attitude is something that nobody or no circumstance can take from you.” The great Yogi Berra said humorously about baseball, “90% of the game is mental, and the other half is physical!” HAHA!

Another way we keep a cheerful heart is not to take ourselves too seriously! Do we really think the world revolves around us? Or cannot function without us? Remember the parable of sticking your hand in the water? Yes. Our lives matter. Yet, we can get so wrapped up in our circumstances that we lose the joy of life. How about we keep some perspective? Our lives do matter but not at the expense of losing all of our joy!

One other way we keep a cheerful disposition is humor. I remember a former member of our congregation years ago, Mr. Ed Powell. Ed had a gift of humor. He would stop by the church office each day with a joke! Most of his jokes were very funny! Ed shared the gift of laughter and humor each day. I will always have wonderful memories of his laugh and his daily trips to the office. Ed reminded me when we have a sense of humor; we are on our way to a cheerful life.

In these times that can bring extra stress, uncertainties, and the feeling of being out of control, I hope we will not forget the Proverb wisdom “A cheerful heart is good medicine.” My prayer for you today is your attitude will soar upward, not take your life too seriously, and that you set your sense of humor free!

I hope to see you Sunday for worship and Trunk or Treat!

Shalom,
Philip