For richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health...
A side note before I get into my intended topic:
My "story-worthy journals" (as opposed to those that just report my progress on health and transcription studying) usually start by my thinking about something negative happening in my life. Then, after thinking about it for a while, I decide to journal about it.
And, here's the interesting bit - when I sit down to journal, I come upon a DECISION: I can report in detail all the crap that's going on, complaining about this, griping about that, getting mad at the people involved that are making my life horrible and let it be a "Woe is me" entry...
OR
...I can "look on the bright side," be a "Pollyanna," "see the silver lining," "find the hidden blessing," or in other words...
"Look at my situation the way Jesus would."
Hmmm… what does that mean? Well, I see the human race as existing on a certain plane that is the "Earthly" way of looking at things and thinking about problems. We all start out on this level playing field, where we all have free will and abilities and emotions. This “base plane” tends to include emotions like: anger, envy, lust, despair. And, a lot of people go through life existing on this one plane, not venturing into the uncharted territory beyond it. They grumble and gossip their way through life, “reacting” rather than “acting,” and in many cases, remaining absolutely miserable the whole time.
And, I think one of the main things Jesus tried to get across to us while he was on Earth was that we need to rise ABOVE that plane. We need to allow the veil to drop from in front of our eyes, so that we can see the ladders and stairways that lead up to better ideas and thoughts and emotions. We have to open our minds to thinking a little bit (or a lot) differently than we have in the past. We have to find a way to climb up above the “human” drudgery of living. Living the way Jesus would have us live means spiritually “rising above” the plane of existence to which we were born.
If we let ourselves *see* those rays of sunlight peeking through the clouds above us, and we *choose* to climb those ladders and stairways to a higher way of thinking, God will reward us with a higher consciousness and a feeling of security and faith.
And, existing in that higher plane also brings with it higher expectations of us. God doesn’t let us come up there and then live the way we lived at the lower level. We have to step it up. We have to be responsible for our actions, our words, our thoughts. Choosing the positive path is one of the hardest things I do in my life. And, it is something I *DO* as opposed to “have done.” I find myself daily, sometimes multiple times in one day, going back and forth. Because the veil has been lifted, I know the way I should think about and react to a situation, but MAKING THAT CHOICE is very tough.
And, I think, as a writer, I need to be extra careful about which path I decide to take when I sit down to report on my life in my journal, because what I say has the potential to affect dozens of other people’s moods and attitudes. Now, I’m not saying the whole world cares about what I say on my little piece of the internet pie, but I do strongly believe that if just one person reads it and is influenced by what I wrote, that feeling, that attitude has the potential to spread to many more.
So, today, as I sit before my computer and make my decision, I choose the positive, the Pollyanna, the silver lining, the way Jesus would have me go. And, here (finally!) is my topic for today…
As some of you know, Tom and I have had a really tough couple of years financially. We both lost our jobs before we moved up here and then had a really tough time finding good jobs when we got here, then bankruptcy, then my migraines started getting serious and interfering with my everyday life, so I quit my job, then Hurricane Ike gave us a few “gifts” of huge trees in our backyard, then car troubles, then Tom stressing because of all of this and now, that stress taking its toll on him, too.
Well, I could go on and on (and on) about how all of this is so unfair and why can’t we get a break, blah, blah, blah. BUT, what good would that do me, or us? Not a darn bit. So, here’s what I’m going to do. I’m going to talk about the positives. And, I don’t just mean counting my blessings. (I talk too much to just do a simple list. :P) I mean, actually looking at the situation and finding something good in it.
And, here it is: My marriage is SOOOOOOO strong, and I am forever grateful for that. Tom and I knew from the very beginning of our relationship that we had a very deep connection. We were able to talk without weird silences, we enjoyed just “being” with each other, whether we were talking or not. We both had that deep, gut-wrenching scared, wonderful feeling of love. We worked (hard) to truly develop trust and honesty in our relationship. And, we knew very early that the best way for our relationship to flourish and grow would be to plant it on a strong foundation, so that’s what we did. We BUILT the foundation of our relationship. It was something we knowingly took on, and we knew that it would be tough. We purposely tackled the bull of arguments and figured out “how to disagree with each other.” Did you know there’s an art to it? :) Anyway, we slowed down the progression of our courting, so that we could be sure about how we felt and what we wanted.
And, every step since then has been to build more onto that. I feel like our relationship is already a philosophical palatial estate at this point. ;) We have love, of course we have love. But, we have so much more, too. We truly respect each other and want the other to thrive and grow. We encourage each other’s dreams and ambitions. We focus on each other and check in with each other. We enjoy each other.
We are coming up on our 5th anniversary, and it feels as strong as ever. We still do our weekly “date night” on Friday nights that we started when we were dating. We hold hands when we walk, we hug, we laugh. I *LOVE* my marriage to my husband. It is everything I was hoping married life would be and more. And, it has helped me get through some really rough times that I wouldn’t have been able to weather with anyone else. Tom is my rock, my hero, my man. And, having him with me to get through this tough time is the best possible way for me to make it. It’s the only way. God put us together so we could be a solid team to get through life together.
And, if I need any further evidence that my marriage is strong, I have only to look at the struggles we’ve been through. God won’t give his children more than they can handle. We’ve been through A LOT. So, ipso facto, He thinks (nah, knows!) we can handle it. Thanks, God, for the confidence in us. Please continue to help us grow so we’ll meet future challenges even more strongly.
Thanks for listening, and have a wonderful day.
Cristy
My "story-worthy journals" (as opposed to those that just report my progress on health and transcription studying) usually start by my thinking about something negative happening in my life. Then, after thinking about it for a while, I decide to journal about it.
And, here's the interesting bit - when I sit down to journal, I come upon a DECISION: I can report in detail all the crap that's going on, complaining about this, griping about that, getting mad at the people involved that are making my life horrible and let it be a "Woe is me" entry...
OR
...I can "look on the bright side," be a "Pollyanna," "see the silver lining," "find the hidden blessing," or in other words...
"Look at my situation the way Jesus would."
Hmmm… what does that mean? Well, I see the human race as existing on a certain plane that is the "Earthly" way of looking at things and thinking about problems. We all start out on this level playing field, where we all have free will and abilities and emotions. This “base plane” tends to include emotions like: anger, envy, lust, despair. And, a lot of people go through life existing on this one plane, not venturing into the uncharted territory beyond it. They grumble and gossip their way through life, “reacting” rather than “acting,” and in many cases, remaining absolutely miserable the whole time.
And, I think one of the main things Jesus tried to get across to us while he was on Earth was that we need to rise ABOVE that plane. We need to allow the veil to drop from in front of our eyes, so that we can see the ladders and stairways that lead up to better ideas and thoughts and emotions. We have to open our minds to thinking a little bit (or a lot) differently than we have in the past. We have to find a way to climb up above the “human” drudgery of living. Living the way Jesus would have us live means spiritually “rising above” the plane of existence to which we were born.
If we let ourselves *see* those rays of sunlight peeking through the clouds above us, and we *choose* to climb those ladders and stairways to a higher way of thinking, God will reward us with a higher consciousness and a feeling of security and faith.
And, existing in that higher plane also brings with it higher expectations of us. God doesn’t let us come up there and then live the way we lived at the lower level. We have to step it up. We have to be responsible for our actions, our words, our thoughts. Choosing the positive path is one of the hardest things I do in my life. And, it is something I *DO* as opposed to “have done.” I find myself daily, sometimes multiple times in one day, going back and forth. Because the veil has been lifted, I know the way I should think about and react to a situation, but MAKING THAT CHOICE is very tough.
And, I think, as a writer, I need to be extra careful about which path I decide to take when I sit down to report on my life in my journal, because what I say has the potential to affect dozens of other people’s moods and attitudes. Now, I’m not saying the whole world cares about what I say on my little piece of the internet pie, but I do strongly believe that if just one person reads it and is influenced by what I wrote, that feeling, that attitude has the potential to spread to many more.
So, today, as I sit before my computer and make my decision, I choose the positive, the Pollyanna, the silver lining, the way Jesus would have me go. And, here (finally!) is my topic for today…
As some of you know, Tom and I have had a really tough couple of years financially. We both lost our jobs before we moved up here and then had a really tough time finding good jobs when we got here, then bankruptcy, then my migraines started getting serious and interfering with my everyday life, so I quit my job, then Hurricane Ike gave us a few “gifts” of huge trees in our backyard, then car troubles, then Tom stressing because of all of this and now, that stress taking its toll on him, too.
Well, I could go on and on (and on) about how all of this is so unfair and why can’t we get a break, blah, blah, blah. BUT, what good would that do me, or us? Not a darn bit. So, here’s what I’m going to do. I’m going to talk about the positives. And, I don’t just mean counting my blessings. (I talk too much to just do a simple list. :P) I mean, actually looking at the situation and finding something good in it.
And, here it is: My marriage is SOOOOOOO strong, and I am forever grateful for that. Tom and I knew from the very beginning of our relationship that we had a very deep connection. We were able to talk without weird silences, we enjoyed just “being” with each other, whether we were talking or not. We both had that deep, gut-wrenching scared, wonderful feeling of love. We worked (hard) to truly develop trust and honesty in our relationship. And, we knew very early that the best way for our relationship to flourish and grow would be to plant it on a strong foundation, so that’s what we did. We BUILT the foundation of our relationship. It was something we knowingly took on, and we knew that it would be tough. We purposely tackled the bull of arguments and figured out “how to disagree with each other.” Did you know there’s an art to it? :) Anyway, we slowed down the progression of our courting, so that we could be sure about how we felt and what we wanted.
And, every step since then has been to build more onto that. I feel like our relationship is already a philosophical palatial estate at this point. ;) We have love, of course we have love. But, we have so much more, too. We truly respect each other and want the other to thrive and grow. We encourage each other’s dreams and ambitions. We focus on each other and check in with each other. We enjoy each other.
We are coming up on our 5th anniversary, and it feels as strong as ever. We still do our weekly “date night” on Friday nights that we started when we were dating. We hold hands when we walk, we hug, we laugh. I *LOVE* my marriage to my husband. It is everything I was hoping married life would be and more. And, it has helped me get through some really rough times that I wouldn’t have been able to weather with anyone else. Tom is my rock, my hero, my man. And, having him with me to get through this tough time is the best possible way for me to make it. It’s the only way. God put us together so we could be a solid team to get through life together.
And, if I need any further evidence that my marriage is strong, I have only to look at the struggles we’ve been through. God won’t give his children more than they can handle. We’ve been through A LOT. So, ipso facto, He thinks (nah, knows!) we can handle it. Thanks, God, for the confidence in us. Please continue to help us grow so we’ll meet future challenges even more strongly.
Thanks for listening, and have a wonderful day.
Cristy