dailydatewithgod

When we find ourselves in circumstances that do not meet our expectations we react by feeling disappointed, hurt, angry, betrayed or any number of things.  A common quip is to say to ourselves, “just deal with it.”  In my mind that usually meant stop feeling what you are feeling and move on.  However, it is not as easy as it sounds.  Depending on how long we have nurtured those expectations the level of reaction is going to vary.  It is essential for our growth to not get stuck in what we wished would have happened.  Dealing with it is about seeing the reality of what happened as well as taking responsibility for our reaction.  If we make ourselves wrong for what we are feeling then we lose the lesson.  Our feelings are indications of how we are perceiving our world.  If we never stop to take a closer look, which is what dealing with it is about, we attempt to move forward without all the information.  We are more likely to set ourselves up to repeat the same pattern and find ourselves yet again disappointed. Dealing with it is not rehashing it over and over in our minds. Dealing with it is not pretending are reactions aren’t real.  Dealing with it is about taking ownership of our feelings and responses to circumstances in our lives.  Only when we take responsibility by paying attention to how we are responding do we have the power to choose other options.  If we deal with it by pushing it aside, making it wrong, or not allowing ourselves to explore what the experience might have to teach us, we short-circuit a chance to get to know ourselves and the depth of our human experience.  God invites us to be curious about our reactions, to feel the feelings we have been given, and get to know ourselves a little more.  Only by doing so will learn what opens our hearts and what closes it.  She is ready to walk with us in dealing with the reality of who we are despite our reactions.  But he cannot go with us down a path we are not even willing to look at because we are already over it.