Even if it’s only in your mind’s eye or in your memories.
Enjoy the warm breeze on your face, the cool sand on your toes.
Breathe deep and exhale slowly.
Receive the reprieve for the moment.
Just sit and soak and let all the worries and cares wash away with the tide.
Then, open your eyes, realize your reality, but don’t dread it.
Know that your strength has been restored, and you can escape away again tomorrow.
Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.
Each of us have a level of comfort in which we desire to live.
Each of us have a “redline.” You know.
That fuzzy little imaginary stroke that isn’t really there until you throttle it.
That line where everything is pressing in, and you literally feel like you’re going to go insane.
Each one of us have a degree of comfort in which we are willing to live.
At what level you are willing to live and of which learn to fly, there will be your leadership.
At which degree you have settled in and of which refuse to move, there will be your demotion.
Comfort can bring pleasure.
Comfort can bring complacency.
Comfort can bring static.
Too much comfort can bring cessation.
Where will you abide?
Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branchthat bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit.
John 15:2
Therefore I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.
1 Timothy 1:6-7
But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away! For of this sort are those who creep into households and make captives of gullible women loaded down with sins, led away by various lusts, always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.
I’ve heard it said, “Be careful the bridges you burn. You might need that passage again one day.”
At times, this can be so very true, for I believe some people simply don’t know who their friends are.
At other times, I want to scream across the chasm of experience and life, “Burn it! Set a bonfire and run away!”
You may be reading this and think, “Ohhhh, here we go. She’s got unforgiveness. She’s got a bitter root.”
But I have to disagree.
I’ve got wisdom. I’ve got experience. And I’ve got a brain.
Sometimes, there are bridges that need to be lit with a blow torch and never again embarked.
Granted, I’m not telling you to burn every passage you desire, and I’m no saying every disagreement in life should end in an explosion.
But I’ve watched too many sit still in the middle of abuse.
I’ve listened to too many stories of the narcissistic control.
I’ve witnessed too many who remain in the toxic fumes of dysfunction and lose hope.
This is when I want to cry out to send help.
This is when I want to carry the gasoline and the torch and say, “Light it.”
Yes. There are some bridges in life that must be burned to restore strength, vitality and love.
Draw on foresight, common sense and know-how.
Lean on knowledge, maturity and expertise.
Rely on truth and reality and forsake fantasy and lies.
Then, you will light the match with confidence.
Then, the destruction will leave and peace can come.
Then, Hope will be welcomed to abide.
So he departed from there, and found Elisha the son of Shaphat, who was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen before him, and he was with the twelfth. Then Elijah passed by him and threw his mantle on him. And he left the oxen and ran after Elijah, and said, “Please let me kiss my father and my mother, and then I will follow you.” And he said to him, “Go back again, for what have I done to you?” So Elisha turned back from him, and took a yoke of oxen and slaughtered them and boiled their flesh, using the oxen’s equipment, and gave it to the people, and they ate. Then he arose and followed Elijah, and became his servant.
When you’re in the middle of those toxins that are choking you, walk.
When you find yourself surrounded by the dunes of hostility and anger, walk.
When all you can see is the fiery darts of bitterness and hatred, walk.
Sometimes, it’s just better to remove yourself than to expect the other to change.
When you realize you’ve landed in the center of their pain, and they refuse to care, walk.
When you recognize you’re not helping, and those receiving refuse to give, walk.
When all you hear is the negative, the criticism, the accusations, walk.
You don’t have to stay to prove you’re right.
You don’t have to remain in the mud to express your love.
You don’t have to maintain the relationship when the abuse and jealousy are the weights.
This is not your punishment nor reward.
This is not your purpose or calling.
This is not your destiny.
Walk on, my friend.
Walk on.
But He answered and said to the one who told Him, “Who is My mother and who are My brothers?” And He stretched out His hand toward His disciples and said, “Here are My mother and My brothers! For whoever does the will of My Father in heaven is My brother and sister and mother.”
Matthew 12:48-50
Do not rob the poor because he is poor, Nor oppress the afflicted at the gate; For the Lord will plead their cause, And plunder the soul of those who plunder them. Make no friendship with an angry man, And with a furious man do not go, Lest you learn his ways And set a snare for your soul.
If you’re progressing, you’re going to be changing.
You can never become without growth.
You can never advance without change.
You can never develop without pruning.
When a seed bursts into a plant, the seed pod breaks.
When the sprout grows, it has to break through the ground.
When the stems reach for the sky, they have to stretch and move.
And if the tree is to one day flourish and bear abundant fruit, it has to be pruned.
Growing is never easy, and sometimes, it’s definitely not fun.
But if we are to be what we are called to be, we must embrace it.
We must look for opportunities to learn, to progress, to change.
If we are to succeed, we must learn to love the stretch.
Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do,forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 3:12-14
Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it. And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown. Therefore I run thus: not with uncertainty. Thus I fight: not as one who beats the air. But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified.
(Yeah. Somebody spelled it wrong, and my grammar self is going crazy inside!)
Some people don’t really have to be crazy.
They’ve just committed themselves to being a certain way, and their stubbornness will not relent.
Others have lived undisciplined for so long that they have convinced themselves this is a good life.
Still others, have fully embraced their crazy, and they want everyone else to embrace it as somehow normal.
If you find yourself in one of these three categories, and you’re living life believing everyone is just giving you a hard time, or they’re all just so difficult to be around , or they never give you a break to be who you are, please hear me screaming at you across the cosmic divide.
STOP!! HALT!! RELEASE!! RELENT!! END NOW!
Stop right now, in your tracks, and listen a moment to reason.
Open your ears to wisdom calling to you.
No one accidentally becomes the “crazy one.”
No one stumbles into the pools of insanity.
It is a choice. And you make it everyday.
So, make the right decisions.
Choose the correct outcomes.
Your spouse will thank you. Your children will sing your praises. And friends will begin to visit again as you walk away from the crazies and embrace life!
Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do,forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Therefore let us, as many as are mature, have this mind; and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal even this to you. Nevertheless, to the degree that we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us be of the same mind.
Philippians 3:13-16
But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified.
The holidays always bring with them interesting family dynamics and semantics.
For some, it’s just simply dealing with the edges of uncomfortable scenarios and conversations, but nothing real out of the way.
No harm. No foul.
For others, it’s complete removal from the dysfunction and toxic environment which accompanies family, celebrations and traditions.
Survival of the Fittest or Crabs in a Barrel.
For most, it can just be learning to navigate between the two extremes.
The Journey to the Center of the Earth.
Wherever you find yourself during your yearly festivities, strive to do better.
Better yet, don’t just strive to survive.
Learn to thrive!
Your thriving isn’t going to look like another’s.
So, do what you can do to succeed.
Their crazies aren’t yours, and yours aren’t theirs.
They don’t have to understand.
Happy Crazy Holidays.
The righteous shall flourish like a palm tree, He shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon. Those who are planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God.They shall still bear fruit in old age; They shall be fresh and flourishing, To declare that the Lord is upright; He is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in Him.
Psalm 92:12-15
Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless; and consider thatthe longsuffering of our Lord is salvation—as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has written to you, as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction, as they doalso the rest of the Scriptures. You therefore, beloved, since you know thisbeforehand, beware lest you also fall from your own steadfastness, being led away with the error of the wicked; but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and forever. Amen.
My journey didn’t stop with mere time travel or writing; it led me to become one of the most sought-after empaths, a soulful psychic who reads the hidden depths of the human spirit. I’ve been blessed—or perhaps burdened—with an ability that allows me to feel the emotions of people from every corner of time.
I am a licensed psychologist based in Greece. My love for housekeeping has inspired me to create this blog about home management and family relationships. I hope you enjoy reading as much as I enjoyed writing!
Dedicated to movie nerdom, nostalgia, and soul invigoration. In the late 90s, I worked at Blockbuster Video where they let me take home two free movies a day. I caught up on the classics and reviewed theatrical releases for Denver 'burbs newspapers and magazines. Today, while raising two young, beautiful daughters with my amazing wife, I look forward to anything rated R and not Bluey. Comments and dialogue encouraged!
