Last night, I lifted a teakettle pot of boiling water with my right hand. You know, the old fashioned type teakettle, though mine is new. It was a gift from my twin-friend and I use it very regularly. It's one of my fav gifts.
As I poured the boiling water into the container to make tea, the stainless steel lid popped off the kettle, and the steam basically melted my skin.
Because I was holding the pot, I had to make a choice that moment. Do I let the steam continue to burn my fingers until I could set the pot down properly, or react by letting go of the handle, therefore eliminating that which was causing me severe pain?
Sometimes we have to make hard decisions. Hard. Even decisions in our most painful moments, we have to make a choice.
This week my nephew Justin had a bad day, and I called him on the phone. Through his tears, he shared that he had to make hard decisions that day. I asked him to go through them with me and let's talk about them. One of his painful decisions as a 10yr old was having to decide between PB&J or pizza for lunch at school, and he wanted both. So in his indecision, and his overanalyzing, debating, and even negotiations to be able to get both lunches, he lost his lunch time. He spent all of his allotted lunch time making a "tough" decision in his world and as a result, was unable to eat anything at all.
How often are we as adults in that same situation? We are indecisive. We overanalyze, debate, negotiate. Just because he is only 10 yrs old, it doesn't dismiss his young feelings, emotions, or hard moments. Age isn't a factor when a tough decision has to be made.
Justin and I talked logic through his situation, and I helped him understand that in life, we sometimes have deadlines and schedules we have to follow. For him, school schedules are there to help control chaos with the students. I also explained that he could only choose ONE lunch because the school prepared only so many meals a day and if he were allowed two, another student may not get the chance to eat. I ended by telling him that moving forward, to keep in mind the lunches weekly include PB&J and pizza, so to alternate his choice weekly, since they were both his favorites. I loved that he understood the logic behind my words...until he said disheartened, "I understand. I am just not good at decision making."
Justin is the F Word. In his world, that was his Failure, his Flaw. In our world, we too often feel the F word. Failure. Fat. Flawed. Forlorn. Fruitless. Forgetful. Yet, I am here to remind you that indeed Justin, and you, ARE the F Word- fabulous, fantastic, forgiven, fruitful, favored.
I immediately was able to provide Justin with some powerful examples of decisions he has made recently that were superb, mature, and solid. With my words, I was able to empower him and remind him not only can he make good decision, he does make good decisions all the time. I heard the hope in his voice when he too gave examples of his good decisions and when we disconnected the phone conversation, I could hear his smile again.
Last night, when the steam was hitting my hand, I chose to hold on to the pot handle.
I did so, even in my pain, because I knew had I released my hold and dropped the pot, the boiling water could have and would have caused more damage; more of my body could have been covered, or damage to the person standing beside me or my kitchen could have occurred. While I had nano-seconds to make this decision, I wasn't indecisive, nor did I overanalyze, debate, or negotiate. Instead, I made a sound decision that eliminated additional damage.
I want to encourage you to "set the pot down properly", to make good choices, good decisions, even when the pain is intense. Even when we feel like the negative F word, we have to remind ourselves we ARE the multitudes of F Words that inspire and uplift us!
My hand is already beginning to heal. It's raw, sore, and marked, but already I am seeing the healing powers of the universe...just like Justin did when we hung up the phone, and just like you if you chose to set the pot down properly.
xoxo,
Chris
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