Monday, October 3, 2016

Biting Your Cheek

Haven't we all done that, bitten our cheek?

You're eating and then you chomp down on your own tissue rather than your food.  

It hurts like the dickens.  It becomes inflamed, swells up and protrudes a bit.

And, because it protrudes you have a tendency to...

 bite your cheek again.  

And so it feels like you're stuck in a vicious cycle of biting and inflammation and then biting again.

I've had the same spot I've bitten so many times in the past week it's driven me crazy with it but it caused me to think.  

It seems that those spots are a bit like harsh emotions.  

Sometimes our feelings get inflamed and they protrude and it makes it all the more easy for others to bump up against them and irritate them.  

As we get bumped we feel raw and exposed and hurt and, at times, it feels like the cycle will never end.  

The good news is that we can soothe ourselves.

For me the first step is realizing that it's happening.

You can't fix what you're not aware of.

So even if you're just at step one you're ahead of the rest.

The next words that echo in my head are the ones I often say out loud to my son...

"I'm not responsible for your happiness and you're not responsible for mine".

That one is a tough pill to swallow sometimes.

I have to remind myself of that a lot.

The thing is that I'm not going to consciously give my power away by saying someone else is responsible for my every thought and feeling.

I am.

Really when I am in a crummy, sad or angry mood I pray about it and then I try to find things to make me feel better.  I'm very purposeful about that.

I also have to remember that while I pray and I trust I also know that I will do what is mine to do.

When I was a kid before I took any test I'd say to my father "Dad, I have a big test tomorrow.  Please pray for me".

He would always say "Honey, of course I'll pray for you but remember, God helps those who help themselves so study hard!".

It's not always easy but I think we usually find that there really is a strength within that we never even knew was there.






No comments:

Post a Comment

Saying Goodbye

I have been writing my blog for over a year now and at this point I am considering ending things here. If there is an outcry for me to con...