Several years ago, my son Mark had a pet ferret. Ferrets are inquisitive creatures. They’re always looking for something to play with and trying to find new places to explore. Mark really liked his ferret, but I wasn’t such a fan. I didn’t like his ferret because it was stinky, smelly, and liked to tear things up. I didn’t want to hurt Mark’s feelings, so I’d tell Mark his ferret was interesting, fun to play with, and nice to have around. The way we describe things is often simply a matter of perspective.
Unfortunately, we sometimes have a negative perspective. We say things like: “Ralph is never on time. He always makes us wait.” Now maybe Ralph is often late, and we have to wait for him, but we shouldn’t talk about him behind his back. I know I don’t like to hear that someone has said something negative about me behind my back. Yet we all do it. It seems as if we need to tear someone else down to lift up our own egos.
Did you know that ferrets are sometimes used to eradicate rats? From this practice, we get the word “ferret” as in the sentence: “The detective was able to ferret out the truth.” Just as ferrets can get rid of pesky rodents, so too, we can eliminate negative thoughts and attitudes.
To overcome negative thinking, we should think the best about other people. When someone says or does something that hurts us, we should assume the best. Maybe they were having a bad day. Maybe they aren’t even aware they’ve hurt our feelings. We should be slow to judge. We should be slow to judge a person’s motives and intentions.
The Bible says, “Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.” (Philippians 4:8).
Let me suggest that we be like a ferret and get rid of those pesky varmints–our negative attitudes. Avoid saying negative things about people. Focus on people’s good qualities. Say positive things about people that will encourage them and build them up.
Just trying to keep it positive,
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