Category: carrying on

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Finding the courage to leap

I had a decision to make, but no courage to do it. So I went for a walk to think things through. But as I did, a squirrel hopped beside me from tree to tree. Then it leapt out into space, its little arms flailing. It wanted to reach a tree on the other side.

I stopped to watch, holding my breath. Would it make it? Would the branch break? Would it fall to its death?

It managed to grab hold of the tip of a branch. The branch sagged, but the squirrel pulled itself up. It scurried off… This was a message for me. Courage wasn’t a feeling. It was a choice. It counted the cost, but still took the first step. So I hurried back home and made that phone call. God kept me safe…

(photo by Catherine Dempsey: ww.pexels.com)

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That dangerous weapon called anger…

It can happen so fast. Out of the blue, someone can blame us for their relational problems. ‘It’s all your fault that people don’t talk with me.’

It happened to me and it surprised me that they give me so much sway. In another, it horrified. They wanted me to take responsibility for their actions and anger. They wanted me to smooth things over.

I declined the job offer, so they instantly changed tactic – using shame. Maybe now I would fulfill their wishes if I felt they were the victim.

I had to walk away. I read the Bible. It said, ‘I have heard the insults.*’ I could rest, because anger isn’t the way to make friends.

(photo by Piet Bakker: pexels.com) *Zephaniah 2:8

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Ruined…

Recently, bulldozers moved in, levelling a wood and meadow. The carnage was brutal, with splintered branches and uprooted trees. And when those bulldozers moved out, they left behind a permanent change.

So, why did I think it could be any different with relationships? For some reason, I thought that when a destructive person moved away, everything would snap back to normal. I thought that people could simply bounce back into being happy and whole, that things would be okay.

Now I know it takes a long time to rebuild. I know the scenery has permanently changed. But, there is hope. With God, I am working at pushing broken logs to one side. Maybe kindness and love will take root.

(photo by Boris Hamer: pexels.com)

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Bible psychology – The opportunity in our personality

Each of us has a personality – it influences the way we think, feel and behave. And, even before we were born, it was right there as a part of us. But we might think life unfair, especially if we end up with some unwanted traits.

But the Bible says, ‘Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it’ (Psalm 139:14 NLT). Now, imagine God stirring up our gene pool, picking out exactly who we should be. He gives us the good and the challenging – each one an opportunity to see how we will do.

I know of someone who had a raging temper. They actually couldn’t remember what they did or said. But this person recognised that this was dangerous and began to work on themselves. They learned how to channel it into something good…

(photo by David Guerrero: www.pexels.com)

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The charm of being human…

There is a certain risk when dressing in the dark. We could put our clothes on wrong. Yesterday I did it again. I wore my shirt inside out, and I didn’t even notice until I took it off in the evening. And no one told me that they could see my tags, or the seams and darts in my shirt. They carried on.

It didn’t change what I did or said or went, because I didn’t know. And by the end of the day, it was too late to be embarrassed. It had happened.

What did I learn from it? All of us carry imperfections in our lives, a broken past or personal mishaps, which we don’t even know about. So, just carry on, and at the right time it will come to light.

(photo by Sergey Makashin: ww.pexels.com)