Thoughts from the woods


Movement on your timeline in life is a beautiful and painful process. There are times when we are in a comfortable place and we are pushed out of it. Think of it as sliding further down the thread that holds all of the experiences that make you who you are. Recently I have been examining the track of personal growth quite a bit. The notion that we can move on that life thread and gain fibers to make it thicker, longer, and stronger.
We can look back and see frays. We see the broken pieces that we repaired (with or without the help of others) and how we needed to change to keep going. I can look back and reflect on distinct events. I can see what piece came out of it and how it fell into place. I can see the reward in the difficult circumstances. I can acknowledge, now that I'm getting older, that those that love me have a preview. That when they pour out the positive and goodness in my life, it is because they see what will come.  I'm honest, I can admit that I struggle to accept the goodness of others. It is unintentional and it is in an effort to achieve the balance of humility. But sometimes, it is because I don't trust the goodness. I want to hold the pieces of myself close to my chest.
I have the opportunity to reverse my own thinking from being invited to pretend the bad things didn't happen to operating as Christ did by turning the other cheek. We have the opportunity to choose furthering humanity and being faithful to the belief that humans are God's currency. To treat others the best we can. That we can always search for the goodness in others, because that is what seeking the face of Jesus is. We can choose to understand that being adverse to certain people is worthy of introspection on our part. As I have wrote about in previous post, we get gut feelings. This is not written to say ignore your gut and always do "the right thing". We have to be mindful about our efforts to self preserve and whether it will keep us from growing. Some think a successful life involves far more than what is being accomplished at any given time. But success  to me is acceptance, cautious presence of the moment, and intentional efforts to meaningfully connect.
We don't get to decide what that looks like for anyone. Only ourselves.
A commonly referenced "stay in your own lane" comes to mind. Working diligently to sit with discomfort seems crippling, but know another piece will come from it...until the day we are whole and complete. 

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