Pedaling uphill and against wind
I think I've always believed that if I was open to learning as much as I could throughout my life, and put it into practice as well as I could, that there would come a point where I could coast. I would be wise, and not make any more mistakes, and know how to handle anything that could come up.
God's having a good laugh about that. If my birthday is a prelude of things to come, I still have quite a few lessons to learn and "how to coast" isn't one of them.
The biggest lesson that is obvious today is how to maintain my own emotional equilibrium regardless of the state of those around me.
The next biggest lesson is how to accept myself when I can't do that, and learn to live gracefully with anxiety until it subsides.
Another big one is to see people who strongly and disrespectfully disagree with me as still carrying God's image. I can do that fine when it is theoretical, but when it is at my dining room table, well...
And this lesson: people who are behaving badly are often really hurting. Actually, I knew that before too, but it's also easier when you are talking about people in another country rather than people you spend time with.
I did have some small successes by the end of the day with making space for conversation without ultimatums or accusations. It was only 10 minutes. But it happened.
Other lessons I had today:
God's having a good laugh about that. If my birthday is a prelude of things to come, I still have quite a few lessons to learn and "how to coast" isn't one of them.
The biggest lesson that is obvious today is how to maintain my own emotional equilibrium regardless of the state of those around me.
The next biggest lesson is how to accept myself when I can't do that, and learn to live gracefully with anxiety until it subsides.
Another big one is to see people who strongly and disrespectfully disagree with me as still carrying God's image. I can do that fine when it is theoretical, but when it is at my dining room table, well...
And this lesson: people who are behaving badly are often really hurting. Actually, I knew that before too, but it's also easier when you are talking about people in another country rather than people you spend time with.
I did have some small successes by the end of the day with making space for conversation without ultimatums or accusations. It was only 10 minutes. But it happened.
Other lessons I had today:
- I am deeply loved by many very good people.
- Lunch out with trusted friends in the midst of a rotten day can make the sun shine brighter and put laughter back into the moment.
- Facebook is great for getting lots of birthday greetings.
- My kids know how to make me feel loved (actually this is from yesterday).
- Sometimes you get the most amazing notes at exactly the right time (thanks again, Annette).
- Being given a Dove chocolate at midnight for the first moment of my birthday is a great way to start the day.
- Peach cobbler with ice cream can cover a multitude of sins, especially when everyone is tired of fighting and looking for a good reason to be friends again.
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