There’s Enough for Everyone to Have Seconds!

Here’s my tribute to Thanksgiving.  It has nothing to do with pilgrims, turkeys, marshmallow creations or even giving thanks! Crazy. I know.  Here’s my spin.  Take a look at that wholesome scene with the mother leaning over the turkey.  It yells out abundance.  There will be plenty of turkey tonight, and the next day, and the next…

The point is when you sit at the table, you do not think things like, “skimpy, sparse, not enough for all.” Just the opposite, you think abundance and ‘dig right in!

Let’s shift gears a moment with a rather unpleasant and probably impolite topic that you most certainly wouldn’t bring up around that Norman Rockwell feast…jealousy and envy.  Can you imagine this conversation at the table?

What she said: “So, did you see the new car that our neighbors got? Pretty sweet ride. That guy has all the breaks! And he knows it too!”

What you heard: “ I deserve a new car. I work harder than him and at least I have the common sense to be humble about it.”

Oh, excuse me.  Did the truth just smack you up side the head?  Good. 

Why can’t we see someone’s abundance in life as something to celebrate instead of deflate?

Recently, a young friend made a comment to me.

“I’m so irritated.  All these people are getting engaged. It's so freakin’ annoying.”

Well, the truth is, there’s enough love and romance in the world to go around. 

It’s sad.  How much of our internal conversations are stuck on that track of thinking?

  Everything good happens to everyone else.

Of course hardship and setbacks come to all.  But what is really at the core of this thinking?  What feeds that cruel monster Envy? 

I suggest it is rooted in a belief system that is tied to two things.

1. How you see God
2. How you perform in life

If I see God as a player who “only loves you when you’re playin’” well then, good luck. You are stuck in a perpetual game of tag.  All is good when God is “it” but it really is disappointing when he tags you.  You come to the end of yourself pretty quickly. Trying to catch God’s approval is an exhausting game.  Some people spend all their lives and money in pursuit of it.

Instead consider a true and tested mindset.  God is generous in all ways.  His entire creation screams out, “Hey! I’m so abundant! Check out all that I have made.  Oh, and don’t forget, there is the unseen realm that you can’t see…at least yet!”  (a plug for one of my favorite books, More than Meets the Eye by Richard Swenson )

When we believe this truth, we are at our finest.  We are at our most glorious state.  It’s faith.  It’s believing that there is plenty of love, and wealth, and kindness, and honor and life to go around.  It’s showing up at the Thanksgiving table expectant, looking forward to the mashed potatoes and gravy. 

How much of our anger and irritations are seated in the fact that we just believe we deserve better and more?  Heaven help us when Mr. Perfect gets “blessed” and we feel overlooked.  If you are loved by God, He won’t disappoint you.  He’s not always trying to “test you” either as if you are in the perpetual school of life. Rubbish!  He actually enjoys you.  He gets a kick out of you.  So much so it causes Him to shout for joy and sing.  Check it out. Zephaniah 3:17. 

If you really, I mean really believed this, how would it change your opinion of Mr. Always-Gets-All-the-Breaks?  Would you feel jealous?  Would you want his new car? I think not.  It’s much like being in love.  You want to treat others with love when you are so saturated yourself. 

Being aware of God’s immense love and enjoyment of you is the remedy for jealousy.  Live your life fully.  Live it fully aware you are dearly loved and enjoyed.  Let others live their lives.   Be happy when happiness comes to them.  Remember, there is abundance at His Thanksgiving table.  He’s not holding back on you.  Don’t you hold back either.

“Hey, pass me the rutabagas…again!”

Unmistakeable Me?

So, I'm on a journey.  Where am I going?  Well, my compass is pointed towards "Exhilarating Clarity".  I have that statement written on my Vision Board which I picked up from a line in a book somewhere.

I am currently doing a 12 week Body for Life challenge, taking yoga classes 2 evenings a week and seeing a counselor.  I am smiling as I type.  Can you guess what season of life I'm in?  So this is what 50 looks and feels like for me!

I am reading all sorts of stuff that I have never read before.  My latest read was an ebook called The Art of Being Unmistakable by Srivas Rao. It's a short read but packed with some punch.  For example,

Honesty and Imperfection

In a world where everybody has a voice, the only "personal brand" that will stand out is one that is honest, imperfect, vulnerable, and rough around the edges. When you polish anything too Much, it loses the thing that makes it shine from within.  Then we cannot trust it anymore.

I really question if I am honest with myself and others.  Probably not.  I know I have lots of internal struggle.  I know what I wish I had the courage to say but then my "polite and diplomatic" persona cuts right in front of the line like a rude person at an amusement park. " Excuse me!  I've been waiting in this damn line for nearly on hour so that I could yell like a mad woman on this 2 minute roller coaster! " I really disapprove of rude people and polite alter egos.  I truly want to be authentic and stop the bull but I don't know how.  Look, I taught an Etiquette course for children! Emily Posts book on Etiquette was part of my inheritance.  What would people think of me?  Perhaps that is the wrong question?  Does being authentic mean being rude? Actually, I think I recall something else I read by Solomon.

Better is open rebuke than hidden love. Proverbs 27:5

So it's good to hide love and better to openly rebuke. Hm mm....and what do you suppose is best? 

My answer.  Be real. Be vulnerable. Be willing to risk offending.  It's not the end of the world to offend someone. So what if you fall out of some one's "good graces."  If it's easy to get in good with someone it's just as easy to get out.  Typically, I have found that the perfect people have nothing substantial to offer except some platitudes and party lines.  No thank you.  I'd rather sit next to a stranger on a bus and pour out my soul. 

Oh God, deliver me from the trap of treating people as commodities as something to be used and minimized.  I want to see, really see people.  To hear people, to listen. To shut up and let them bleed it out.  Sure it's messy. But it's okay because we are more alike than different.  We are born to adversity; we all have that in common.