Selah. Pause and Think about that

Ever have a day or a week or months at a time when you live completely in your head??

I mean, really live in that place where you are preoccupied with nothing else but your overlapping thoughts…and in turn, so focused on yourself that lots of things and people fall to the wayside.  

I’m not talking clinically unstable and hearing voices…though I have had plenty of moments when I thought, “That’s it, I really am crazy? I was borderline sane that time before, but this time I’ve legitimately reached 

‘Tom Cruise jumping on Oprah’s couch’ level of crazy.” 

...I mean, who hasn’t thought that at one point or another?!...right?.... right?!...umm, yeah. me neither! I was just kidding...only crazy people think that! 

…Well, in any case, this is not one of those times.

…But it is, however, one of those times when you realize that no one else (or by “no one” it means “everyone”) notices how preoccupied you are with yourself…. No one understands the complexity of the paradigms you live every day, with internal monologues and debates amongst yourself that keep you company while you attempt to stay present in the world around you….No one suspects that you are considering “changing the course of your entire life” in the midst of trying to decide if it is cheaper to buy the bulk package of toilet paper versus the small sale package.

That’s my fight….Staying Present…present enough to “Carpe Diem” without letting go of the process that my mind is working me over as I become more “Clair Huxtable” and less “Max and Ruby’s mom.” 

(where is their mom, anyway? And does she even have a name…or a face, for that matter?...cause those poor cartoon bunnies are never supervised; and I’m pretty sure Max needs a referral for speech therapy, if anyone would take the time to notice. PBS has some explaining to do) 

…in any case…Staying Present, while not becoming stagnant in a life routine that impedes the process of growth…Realizing the importance of implementing wisdom and intellectual challenges into a proactive lifestyle shift instead of taking your thoughts and letting them remain a tagged quote or picture on a Pinterest board of your brain.

It comes down to… “Keeping your mind right”…Exploring the depth of your identity and humanity while inviting others along for the ride, and in turn, riding along with others in their process... Figuring out the meaning of life in conjunction with keeping the fridge stocked and the laundry folded. …Balance! 

Piece of cake for Carol Brady or good old Clair…not so smooth for those of us who live real lives with real distractions and real annoying inabilities to multi-task the social with the emotional , with the intellectual, with the spiritual, with the physical, with the spacial, with the rest of the “al’s” in our lives. 

Let’s just say, Cliff would be one unhappy camper in my house right now (…not to mention his office downstairs would be overrun by clutter and possibly a few loads of laundry that I threw in there to hide from company).

In any case, my saving grace is in knowing that these “thoughtful moments” of life are very productive in drawing us out and refining us into more of who we were supposed to be in the first place….who God meant us to be. His best in us! “He has preserved our lives and kept our feet from slipping. For you, God, tested us; you refined us like silver.” (Psalm 66:9-10, NIV)

…Difficult? Yes.        

…Awkward? Pretty much. 

      

…Fun? Never.

...Exciting? Maybe…sometimes…if you are super unpredictable and really love uncomfortable changes that leave you feeling drained with questions that tend to have no clear right or wrong answers.

...Worth it? Always!

So if you dare to follow my refining process, then you are in for a real treat. And if you dare to attempt to be refined yourself, then in the words of a good friend, “buckle up!”…. “because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.” (James 1:3-5, NIV)