Heart Medicine

A merry heart does good, like medicine, But a broken spirit dries the bones. Proverbs 17:22 (NKJV)

I had a really bad day. In my work, people come to me when there is a problem so I am always in crisis mode. The other day, my boss referred to my job as playing whack a mole all day long. Do you know that game? It is an arcade game where the moles pop their heads out of holes and you have to hit them with a hammer and knock them back down. That is what I do all day, whack the problems and try to keep them all down. Just when I think I have won, another mole sticks his head up and the game begins again. Today, from start to finish, the moles were winning. I tried my drug of choice to make me feel better. In about five minutes, I ate three zingers, those jelly and coconut covered Twinkies, but all that sugar just caused me to crash and feel worse. I also tried griping to a co worker but that just upset her. I planned to take it out on the house and give my floors a scrubbing tonight, but changed my mind. Like the sugar, cleaning house sets me up for failure. Tomorrow, the floor will be covered in sand once more, and I will be mad all over again. Hearing my troubles, my friend, Andrea, suggested we go horseback riding tonight. She knows it always makes me feel better. I turned her down, because by this time, I was so cranked up I didn’t want to feel better. Besides, I had to fix supper. Maybe more food would take away my worries. Andrea would not take no for an answer. She left a message that she would be over in fifteen minutes to go riding. I called her back to say it was too hot, too buggy and it looked like rain. I did not want to go riding. We were just sitting down for dinner, when she showed up and proceeded to saddle her horse. Then, I started to feel guilty. If I had called and asked to ride, she would go with me. What kind of a friend was I to send her out alone? So, I drug my stuff out to the barn and saddled up to go with her. You know what? Andrea was right. I did feel better after the ride. The wind whipped around us, and the air cleared my head. The little bit of rain cooled my temper. My horse was wound up from the storm rolling in so I had to concentrate to keep him in line. There was no time to think of my problems. We rode back home laughing. My friend refused to leave me alone in my misery. Tomorrow there will be more moles to whack, but for tonight, I am feeling pretty good about life. Thanks to a good friend who knew how just the right cure for my pains and cared enough to insist I take a dose.