This Is The Life!

I was driving down the highway the other day and the Jeep Wrangler in front of me had a cover on the spare tire that read, “This Is The Life!”. I don’t know anything about the driver or his life, but if his attitude towards it was accurately reflected on his spare tire cover, then it must be pretty good. Shortly after that, he took an exit and I continued on my journey. I didn’t get a chance to look at him, so I don’t know if he was young or old or somewhere in between. His statement on the tire cover stuck with me throughout the day and finally made its way to this writing.

How many of us really enjoy what we are doing in our daily lives? Most of us have to work, some don’t have to but do anyway because their either enjoy what they are doing or have nothing else to do. There are those few who don’t work, don’t want to work and can enjoy their lives through their hobbies, volunteering, or just doing whatever they wish to do. Do you, ten minutes after you arrive at work, throw out your arms and proclaim, “This is the life!”. Probably not. I know that I don’t do that either.

That statement on the tire cover implies a certain level of pleasure, of enjoyment, of good feelings. I will never know if the driver of the Jeep really felt that way or if the saying on the tire cover was just something he or someone else put there. I hope it was the former. I am sure all of us would like to feel that way about the way our lives are, not just now but in the future as well.

Our attitude toward life is under our control. We get to choose how we act or react to whatever is happening to us at any moment. We can choose to be sour and grumpy when times are easy and without stress or we can choose to be upbeat and cheerful even when the world seems to be attacking us from all sides. There are certain limits as to what we can do to others. We can’t make the grump cheerful or the cheerful person grumpy. Regardless of what someone may tell us, we cannot make that person angry; they make a choice, conscious or otherwise, to be angry. Conversely, we can’t make the person who is feeling depressed or sour to feel up and nice. We can, to some extent, create the situations which gives the opportunity to change. We just can’t force it.

So, how does God figure into all of this? Simple. He can’t force us to be one way or the other, either. It is that old free will gift that he gave to us. He can create the situations that allow us to choose how we want to react or behave and then it is up to us to make that choice. Through the words in the Bible and the ministers who bring teaching and interpretation, he has given us a guideline that tells us what he expects us to choose. We have that God-given right and he can’t take it away. It is your choices that will determine what kind of life you will have, here and hereafter. Will you make the choice to go up or down?

Just picture yourself for a moment when this life is finished and you are about to start that eternal life. Just a moment after St. Peter opened the gate, shook your hand, and welcomed you home. There you are, just one step inside that gate, seeing all of the wonder and splendor that God has waiting for you. Just throw out your arms and shout with all of your might, “This is the life, and I get to have it for all eternity!”