Many people who lost their homes in Springfield, Missouri to the floods last week. I can’t imagine loosing my home like that. Without a doubt, each home owner and their family members are going to need some time to recuperate from such a difficult disruption to their lives. I found it interesting, though, how many people that were interviewed proclaimed that this was the start of their new year.
I was an emotional wreck on New Years Day. A couple of times in my distress I wondered if this meant I was going to be a basket case the entire year. When emotions rage we need to be careful not to let them dominate over truth and reality. One day, one incident, one major trial may alter our future but it should not determine it.
Life is like the art of walking a tight rope.
Some days our balance is off and our emotions may dip a bit to one extreme or another. Days like that can be dangerous if we let them derail us. It’s times like this that we need a quite confidence, an inner strength, to pull ourselves back to center, stand up straight, and continue walking on. We cannot keep our balance if we freak out, get caught up in the mood, give up or even just pause for too long. To succeed, we must continue to look forward and press on.
It doesn’t matter what day of the year it is, there will always be pressures and frustrations around us. We must learn how to stay balanced and keep going. This doesn’t mean that we can’t get emotional. A tight rope walker does not fail when he starts to loose his balance and his pole dips one side or another. He knows keeping good balance can be wobbly business. We would be wise to consider our own efforts in the same manner:
- To be balanced with our health, we need to eat, sleep, exercise properly but we can recover from an occasional junk food binge, a long night without sleep or a missed workout.
- To be balanced financially we need to work and spend proportionately but we can recover from a day off, miscellaneous bill or even a major incident.
- To be balanced in our relationships we need to keep proper boundaries and love well but we can recover from disappointments and heartaches.
Of course when any area of our life is off balance, our emotions can be as well. It’s the emotions that can destroy us by knocking us off the tight rope. Which is why we need to be especially sure to consciously keep our emotions in balance. Personally, I’ve found this does not mean stuffing our feelings and trying to avoid wobbling. It means allowing our balance pole to dip into the emotion we are feeling, experiencing it and then letting it go. There is nothing like a good cry or a good laugh to clear the air and regain proper perspective so that we can get back to center and keep on going.
If you are dealing with frustrations and disappointments and don’t want to lose your cool, I encourage you to find someone safe to share your heart with and allow yourself to be vulnerable. Shedding tears is not always loosing control, sometimes it is regaining it. It takes a woman with confidence to share her less than beautiful side, but vulnerability is the finest kind of beauty and no one should have to bear their burdens alone.
Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. Galatians 6:2
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Catrina Welch is an inspirational author and speaker whose passion is empowering women and girls to BE and LET BE. Her expertise as a cosmetologist, image consultant and Biblical life-coach, as well as her personal experiences with abandonment and grief make her message relatable to anyone dealing with rejection, betrayal or loss.
Her latest book, CONFIDENT BEAUTY: Reflecting the One Who Made You, with the Images in your Mirror and in your Soul, will soon be available as an audiobook. Autographed copies of all her books are available on her website at www.CatrinaWelch.com
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