The story...
I regret the times that my emotions got the better of me and I reacted quickly by lashing out at other people. I treated my band director with public disrespect, I hit one fellow student in the face with a textbook, I threw an ice-cream boat in the face of another, I went on two different long tirades condemning people for their wrongs toward someone I cared deeply for, I yelled at a co-worker in the middle of the office... I might have let them be and focused on my role in the situation - actually being a better character in the story of life. I wish these events didn't happen but they did.
Gary has to answer the question "whose your daddy?" It's not hard to imagine the emotions that're swirling around Gary's head. Yet, he suppresses those emotions and begins a path that stretches and grows him towards a bigger and better life. Gary's friend "Dean Martin" stands firm and refuses to grow - he misses out.
Will I be okay today even if this or that happens? Will I treat others with love and respect even if they...? Am I okay no matter what?
I'll have emotional responses to the hard happenings that come my way; yet, I can choose how I respond or react. It does take practice to delay my response from those emotional triggers. Some say that feelings last no more than 90 seconds yet we can keep restimulating them with our thought patterns. Oh... the perils of obsessive thinking.
The only church in town will witness each person growing throughout their lives. I hope that the people will actually "be" who they are in Christ rather than "try" to be good people. The heat of the battles of life seem to expose who we are. The Sprit of God and an ongoing relationship with God transforms people.
Just for today...
Why not trade the worrisome thoughts of "what if" with "even if?"
"When angry, count to ten before you speak; if very angry, a hundred." Thomas Jefferson
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