Emotional Ping Pong

Does anyone but me ever feel like an emotional ping pong ball? Yesterday I went from feeling exhilarated to totally discouraged in a matter of hours. 

What the heck?!

How does a (relatively!) emotionally balanced and healthy gal go from one extreme to the other?  One word:

Circumstances.

This morning I’ve  been thinking about the power I give circumstances in my life.  Too much, I am afraid.  Of course circumstances will affect my feelings – that’s part of being human – but the power I allow them to have over me is something I can control.

And it all begins in my mind.

Because circumstances have meaning based on how we perceive them.

If this is all getting too deep, let me bring us down to the land of real life.  Let’s say your child does something wrong.  You can think “I’m a terrible mom” and feel defeated or you can think “this is an opportunity to help my child grow, learn and develop character” and feel empowered. 

Or how about this scenario:  You can have an argument with your husband and think “he’ll never change!” and feel hopeless or you can think “all couples have conflict, we just need to work through this” and feel hopeful.

You can have a bad day at the office and think “I stink!” and feel discouraged or you can think “I may need to ask for help to accomplish everything I need to get done” and feel  humble.

Get the idea?  It’s been said that 90% of our living takes place between our ears. 

After yesterday I am inclined to believe it.

So…..today I thought about what I thought about.  And every time my mind started wandering down a not-so-helpful  path I turned my little brain around and marched it right back into the land of truth.

What a difference! 

Jesus said, “the truth shall set you free”. 

It’s all too easy to live in the land of vain imaginations, what -if’s and faulty perceptions.  That stuff just keeps us in bondage.  But living and thinking truth – now that’s where freedom is found!

One more thing:  my husband has a funny little habit of leaving whatever he  had on before he went to bed on the floor (which in fact, is not so funny). For years I picked his shirts, shorts, robe, socks and whatever else he might have thrown off the night before, thinking thoughts like “Am I his personal slave?” “Doesn’t he know where the hamper is?”  “Why do I have to do this?” 

How did these thoughts affect my feelings? 

Seriously girls. Do I really have to spell it out?

But one day I decided to do something different.

I looked down at my husband’s carelessly strewn clothes, picked them up and said out loud, “Thank you Lord, for the man who wears these.  Thank you that he’s a good man.  Thank you that he’s a loving man.  Thank you that I have someone to pick up after. Thank you for my husband.” 

How did these thoughts affect my feelings?

It made all the difference.

My circumstances didn’t change.  My husband didn’t change.  But my thoughts and my perception of my circumstances changed.

And, oh yeah….

I changed.