Monday, August 7, 2006

What Are You Stumbling Over?

by Donna L. Watkins

Don't stumble over something behind you.

Isn't it interesting how much of our present and future gets messed up because we keep stumbling on something behind us. Why walk backwards when we can move forward in life? We have all had horrible things happen and some much more horrible than others, but we've all read stories of overcoming those obstacles from our past and moving on to become something amazing because of them.

That's not just for "somebody else." We all have it in us if we look inside. The only way to step into those abilities is to leave self-pity behind and to grab hold of what Christ gave us in His death and resurrection. New life! We are a new creation. Do you believe the Bible? Believe that!

Faith came singing in to my room,
And other guests took flight.
Grief, anxiety, fear and gloom
Sped out into the night.

I wondered that such peace could be,
But Faith said gently, "Don't you see.
That they could never live with me?"

--- Elizabeth Cheney

I read an article in AARP magazine entitled, "Quit Your Pain." It was about a self-help guru, Byron Katie, who lectured and offered what she considered a surprisingly easy way to zap self-destructive thoughts. For over 20 years she has been showing people how to lead stress-free lives using a technique she calls "The Work."

She says, "The most intimate relationship is the one we have with our own minds. I was in terrible shape till one day I realized a simple thing. When I believed my own thoughts about myself, I suffered. When I didn't believe them, I didn't suffer. Everything changed for me after that day." Although there is no mention of God in the article, God has given all of us free will which is free choice and it's really all about making the good choices for our lives.

Katie states, "Thoughts are like children. They're gonna scream till we pay attention. When we do, and put these beliefs to certain questions, thoughts we've believed 40, 50 or 60 years - the worst, stressful thoughts - get popped. It takes a lot of courage. But isn't it time to get real? Haven't we conned ourselves long enough? If we don't question what we believe, we're destined to live it out."

Her book, "I Need Your Love - Is That True?" involves four questions you ask about a painful belief:

1. Is it true?

2. Can you absolutely know that it's true?

3. How do you react when you think that thought?

4. Who would you be without that thought?

How do we apply that? There was an example given in the article. See if it helps to make it a bit more clear to you.

A seminar attendee on stage says, "My father never loved me."

Katie asks, "Is that true?"

The unloved son nodded emphatically.

She asks, "Can you absolutely know that it's true?"

He says, "Well, that's how it feels."

"Of course it does," Katie agreed and asked, "Now, how do you react when you think that thought?"

"I feel miserable," he replies.

And question number four, "Who would you be without that thought?

"A lot better off, I know that," the attendee replied.

She asks, "Can you turn it around?"

A look of annoyance flashed across his face. "What? He does love me?"

She asks for another turnaround and appearing baffled, his eyes then lit up. "You mean .... I don't love him?" he stammered, as if this thought had never occurred to him, but saying it, the truth rang through.

Katie now asks for three examples of where his lack of love toward his father was clear and he stated that he distanced himself from his father, he gets furious at him for how he treated his mom and family and stated that he could not forgive that. And then, gripping the chair, he confessed that he had never really, truthfully liked his father in the first place.

She now explains that "the mind is a child. It believes what we tell it. Our lives become hell through our self-created stories. But we each have the power to stop the abuse."

It surely sounds too simple, but Byron Katie is one of those examples of somebody turning themselves around and she's not any more special than you are and you have the power of God on your side. She divorced her husband at 33, slipped into a downward plunge of rage, paranoia, and suicidal depression. Morbidly obese, she became agoraphobic and for two years could hardly leave her bedroom, often unable to bathe or brush her teeth.

Until she realized that her thoughts were creating her suffering, she was trapped in a prison of her own making. All of us have prison cells that we have locked parts of ourselves in, but it's time to get out the key and free those parts of us to live life alive, well, joyful and at peace.

To change your tomorrow you must change today!

Prayer
Father, help me to choose Truth! Let me not push this under the rug, delete this email into the trash bin, or relegate this information to another time. Help me to deal with this now. Today. You gave your Son that I might have life abundant. I am not experiencing that life. Help me to choose peace, joy and truth over the thoughts that I am believing. Hold my hand and come with me as I remove each and every wrong thought and replace it with the Truth that You have given me in your Word. Thank you for giving us free will and for giving me strength and courage to choose freedom. Amen.

Copyright and Reprint Information


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© 2007 Donna L. Watkins - This article, originally published at TheNatureInUs.com, was reprinted with permission. Visit the author's website for more articles and free email subscription.

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