It's crazy how many settings today's washing machines have. Our machine is over 20 years old and it still has more than 10 different settings. What's funny is 95% of the time I use the same one. (Yes, I actually do laundry.) I know my colors and fabrics might benefit a bit more from one of the other settings, but I'm quite happy with how they turn out with good old Regular Fabrics - Normal - Cold.
As humans, we were created with five dominant settings that influence how we respond to the world around us. These settings are: Sadness, Anger, Fear, Disgust and Happiness. Throughout our lives, we'll absolutely use each one. It's natural. It's how we're made. However, over time and in response to significant events, we tend to become attracted to one setting more than the others like we do with our appliances. When this happens, it mutates and can become your default mode. Today, I want to talk about how each of these default modes can dominate your life.
1. Sadness becomes Despair. Sometimes, when we have the misfortune of several critical losses in our lives, we can become consumed by sadness. If we don't seek the help we need to work through the pain, this sadness can quickly turn into despair. In this state, we open ourselves up to depression and begin to drown ourselves in self-pity. It impacts our relationships, eating habits, and work performances.
2. Anger becomes Bitterness. Each of us throughout our lives will be pushed by people or circumstances to anger. It's not our most attractive quality, but it's natural. However, do you know people who just seem to be angry all the time at everything? Unfortunately, they have allowed resentment to cause their anger to mutate into bitterness. In this state, they have cut their fuse to the quick and are ready to explode at any moment. They are quick to expect the worst in people and have zero tolerance for anything.
3. Disgust becomes Intolerance. We all have our own preferences. It's one of the things that makes us unique. In our lives, people will do things that don't align with our values. However, disgust mutates into intolerance when our dislikes move from behaviors to people. At this point, it's no longer about what people are doing, but who they are as individuals. We now begin to judge people based on their ethnicity, sex, class, education, etc., instead of how Dr. Martin Luther King put it: "by the content of their character." This narrows our opinion of our community and limits our ability to experience the blessings that all the people of this world have to offer.
4. Fear becomes Pessimism. I am painfully aware of the impact that fear can have on your life. When I was growing up, I had very unhealthy fears of snakes, storms, and plane crashes. I missed out on a lot of the joy life had to offer because I was protecting myself from the unlikely event that one of these things would take my life. When fear mutates into pessimism, it paralyzes you and can rob you of much of what God has created. There's a reason that some form of the phrase "fear not" is repeated 365 times in the Bible!
5. Happiness becomes Joy. This is the default mode that God longs for us to lock in. When we respond to the world from this mindset, a higher level of peace become readily available to us. If you would like to see the impact that joy can have on even life's most horrific circumstances, pick up a copy of The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom. It's a true story about two sisters who endured the hardships of one of the worst concentration camps in Nazi Germany. It's proof that the sun is always shining when you carry its light inside.
Life gets messy and the setting you use to clean it up truly matters. There's a time and circumstance for each setting you've been given. However, if you set your default to Joy, the vast majority of your troubles will be washed away.