Emotional Pain

For everyone, pain is real. Pain is normal. There is no exception. We can choose to share pain in such a way that hurts others who are not deserving or we can simply be responsible for accepting pain and find healthy means which allow us to heal.

Accept your true self, good and bad. Is this not what the start of forgiveness is all about. How easy it seems to divert our pain by finding fault in others or say yes by taking abuse from others. Pagans and Christians alike in all parts of translated scripture made changes in their lives when they simply learned to say no to others unresolved pain and demands, and yes to Gods truth and grace in their own lives-giving way to great possibilities. People learned to be responsible “to” others and yet not “for” others.1 This seemed to be times where amongst many, offering forgiveness and being forgiven was exercised. Such a practice seems to be where God’s love for you and through you is no longer diminished. With this understanding, there is also the realization that we owe it to ourselves the practice of seeking better emotional health.

Do not allow pain to:

• rob your ability to seek guidance, having a healthy process to deal with emotional pain.

• take away your possibility and ability to find peace in your own life.

• take away your ability to share peace with others.

 

James 3: 1-18

© Andy L. Westbrook, PLH Publishing, 2013

1Changes that Heal by Dr. Henry Cloud. Published by Zondervan, 1993

Image © iStock

Ignor•ance

When, for a brief moment, we willfully ignore those who simply need an encouraging word or a listening ear, we are ignoring God’s greatest creation. You and I.

A kind word. A shared story. A small generous act. These things can possibly change the course of someone’s life for the good.

 

© Andy L. Westbrook, PLH Publishing, 2012

A Responsive Role to Change.

English naturalist Charles Darwin once said, “It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.”

Adapting to change is part of family life, friendship, career and certainly community. Sometimes, change requires very little effort on our part to adapt. Other times, change requires more thought and major adjustment. The way in which we are responsive can either help or hinder. While reading the list of questions below, think about your responsive role when met with certain challenges during processes of change.

• What actions on my behalf determine a potential outcome that is helpful for everyone involved?

• During change, which do I value more, a decision based on commitment about what is humane and civil or a decision   based on feeling or performance?*

• How much do I regard my faiths command to ultimately apply love and/or forgiveness of another persons actions or words with which I might not agree?

• How much do I practice reaching out to help those who are different than myself? 

When change involves others, we sometimes find it hard to listen and consider their input. From our perspective, we may already have made up our minds regarding a desired outcome. In our favor, we tend to make hasty decisions based on feelings and assumptions. We might also have a simple conviction, “I am right.” Are both attitudes always helpful? An unrelenting attitude can lead to forgetting where our nose stops and another persons begins.

As a nation, difficult times of change have always produced a society of Americans who work together and respond in a positive manner. We become a nation of people who set aside differences for the sake of survival. As Americans, we realize being responsive does not require sacrificing commitment to our own beliefs based on faith and culture. Success at being responsive simply requires adapting through choices of being considerate, loving, and forgiving of one another during the process.

“All things are lawful,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful,” but not all things build up. Let no one seek his or her own good, but the good of their neighbor. 1 Corinthians 10: 23 – 34

*Notation by Dr. Tony Hopkins, First Baptist Greenwood, SC.

© Andy L. Westbrook, PLH Publishing, 2012