Out of the Puzzle and Into the Pool

That was how I ended one of my journal entries. So I decided to make something out of it. I made an acronym. The puzzle was all my questions and wonderings and the pool was life. So:

Plan

Overcome what you can

Overlook what you can’t overcome

Live

Planning means I'm going to do something about something and I'm going to decide what I'm going to do even if it’s one thing.

Overlook. I've made great strides in the last year. With God’s help, most of this can be attributed to:  just stop the striving. Watching my old self through my journal, I looked like a helpless puppy trying to get out of a ditch. Over and over, the same struggle. Giving up is sometimes the best solution. It’s so peaceful to give up and have confidence in God to take care of me. Whatever the current immovable object is-illness, getting older, x situation - if I took a cross section of my life at any given time, would I love everything? So no sense in rebelling against the here and now.

Overcome. Once again, I can’t do this myself. A lot of people are doing life without God, I know. They are making money/have friends/success/happiness. For all practical purposes, they seem to have a good life. I was one of those so I know. But I was using other means to overcome and they were just not healthy. I paid for that and still pay. So, God is a better choice. Yay God! My need for Him trumps all.

Live. Where are you emotionally entrenched? If it's the place you want to be, Live there. If not, remodel, redecorate and make it yours. Sometimes you need to hire the Emotional Moving Van and get on down the road to your emotional Dream House. This is not about a literal change in living situation. This is about where and how you invest. Sometimes it may be necessary to take action but always, we are in charge of our emotional landscape.  Even if hindered by circumstances, we have some control.

Prove you are living. Sometimes things just get better and it’s hard to tell if I overcame or the tide turned for the good. What if it was taken away again? Would I crumble or remember this progress and triumph again? I'm only human so I don’t know. But I want to go on living and proving.

My Mathematical Prayer: Please subtract from my life everything that doesn't belong, add what is missing, multiply what remains and divide by One.

Reflections on June 8-17, 2015