This is coming a little late, and you have my apologies for missing the November post. I moved again and then got sick, and then it was Thanksgiving and I'm still trying to move things. However, I think I have more insight to share now that we're past the Thanksgiving holiday. I was so not looking forward to it because I didn't feel very thankful. I was dreading going around the table at dinner time and sharing something I was grateful for because everything I thought of felt so insincere. Don't get me wrong I am grateful, I am blessed, and I'm so thankful for my friends and family, pets, home, etc., but I couldn't convince myself to feel grateful or joyful even surrounded by these blessings. It's a hard thing to handle because our emotions are not meant to rule over our lives, but they also demand to be felt.
There is so much in this life that I don't want, and don't want to do, but so much of it has to be done anyway, so we must learn to love and be thankful for the mundane work and effort we have to apply in this world. This is where we must practice discipline. That's not fun to think about, but it's the truth. There is a reason the saying "fake it 'til you make it" exists. When we discipline our minds and our bodies, the feelings follow. This doesn't always apply, I'm not saying people with depression should just be happy, but Paul was right. We must beat our bodies into submission because, little by little, we set ourselves up for success and real joy. I know this can sound like gym propaganda or new-age science, but there is so much truth in discipline; it combats the way our feelings sometimes lie to us.
Let me give you an example. A lie that I used to tell myself is that I'll never be healthy because I'm too busy. I never want to work out, I feel lazy and tired. I want to look good and be healthy but I do not want to spend a single minute going through the long process of exercising every single day. Add in the fact that there are so many distractions, so many things I'd rather be doing, so many other things I don't want but still need to do. I could come up with plenty of excuses not to exercise and to continue telling myself that I don't have enough time. However, it's something that must be done, which calls for discipline even though I don't like it. I made a pact with my accountability group that I would exercise three times a week, excluding walking my dog. It's not something you would think would be very hard, only unpleasant, but it turned out to be a bigger challenge than I thought. I had struggles with time, health, work priorities, and logistics, it was almost like at every turn there was an outside force trying to keep me from accomplishing my goal. I had more excuse than ever before not to keep working out. I've given up on it with far less excuse before, and not even felt guilty about it. But I didn't want to lose $25 to my accountability group. So I kept going, I kept being disciplined about it; for five weeks I kept going, and guess what happened. By the third week, I had a bit of a craving to work out. Week four I was going a little stir crazy without my morning workout. After just a few weeks my mind, body, and feelings all started to fall in line. I started enjoying it. Feelings follow discipline.
That's one way we can help ourselves feel thankful - by practicing gratitude. Even when it sounds insincere, keep going, keep writing the lists and praising the blessings. Keep dwelling on the good. The feelings will come.
God will help us with it too. I was snapped into a grateful mood on my way home from Thanksgiving this year; not in a way I would choose, but a in a way God had His hand in. I was driving home and the weather was getting worse by the minute. I have driven through near blizzards and awful storms, so I wasn't too concerned. I drive safely, and I'm a good driver... And then I hit black ice. In a moment I was hyperventilating and praying to God without words, just silent screaming. My back wheels swerved back and forth, and then it ran its course and I was in control again. But it was a good reminder that we are never really in control. This life has so much to be thankful for, and I was quickly reminded of that in those few seconds where I was desperate not to crash.
God has us in His hands. He is with us, even when our feelings don't say so. Be patient, be disciplined. You don't need to swallow your emotions, but don't let them rule your life either.
Yorumlar