PEBBLE
Worries and tensions are like birds. We cannot stop them from flying near us, but we can certainly stop them from making a nest in our mind.
~Rishika Jain, shared by Becky in McMurray, PA
BOULDER
Pay attention to fear, but do not let it command your attention.
Give fear a listen, but do not give it a vote.
Give fear a name, but do not give it a seat at your table.
-Pastor Matt Ewart, shared by Beth in Green Bay, WI
PONDER
When understood and engaged properly, worries and fears are a natural, inevitable, and extremely helpful part of our operating systems. We wouldn’t have made it today without our reliable internal warning systems to help us prepare for and respond to real danger.
The problem is that the code for our operating system was originally written when most of the dangers we could sense were actual, literal dangers that were legitimate threats to our lives or livelihoods. These days technology, media, and social media allow us to be exposed to massive amounts of information and ideas, much of which is presented in a way to purposely activate our worries, tensions, and fears.
It’s neither wise nor safe to completely ignore all of it, otherwise we’d miss out on stuff that is relevant and possibly critical to our lives. And we don’t usually have much control over our initial reactions when our warning signals get activated. The trick is to notice when a bat signal has triggered us into a state of high alert and pause long enough to recognize this activation. This brief pause and increase in awareness creates an opportunity to also engage our higher level thinking and reasoning, allowing us to more accurately assess the state of threat we’re in and more wisely choose our best response.
The next time worries, tensions, and/or fears flood your senses, I hope you’ll remember to do three things:
1. thank them for their help;
2. mindfully decide which parts of their messags are worth retaining, and then
3. kindly-yet-confidently invite them to move along.
What do you think?
Peace,
Paul
