dailydatewithgod

In Victor Frankl’s book, Man’s Search for Meaning, he shares his poignant and profound insights on the power of meaning in our lives. I learned many years ago there is what happens and there is what we make it mean.  It is the meaning that we are connected to because it comes from within us.  We get to choose what we make things mean.  It is a little difficult of a concept to wrap your head around if you are used to seeing yourself as having no choices in your life or being the victim of circumstance.  I get it.  I was once there too.  This small little idea has had a profound affect on my life.  When I got into recovery, I began to take a closer look at the areas of my life where I felt powerless and at the mercy of people and circumstances.  When you are broken open and raw, its surprising the things you will do.  It was not completely outside my character however, as I have always been a lifelong learner and very curious about the how and why of things.  I just did not realize the mind-field I was sitting on when I was walking through life numbed out on food and trying to avoid feeling and being present in my body.  Both of those things were an essential tool for my survival and I am grateful I found something that worked. As an adult, however I came face to face with its limitations and they were built up around my heart and quite literally my body. God knew in my heart I wanted to live and love fully. God was always aware of the light of life that resides within me.  It was as though the spirit of truth within me would not give up.  So I experienced a massive breakdown and admitted defeat.  What seemed like the worst things to acknowledge, being addicted to food and an incest survivor, ended up being the very things that would open me to a world more fully alive.  So far, it has been messy path and a winding road I never thought I would travel.  It is certainly not one I ever imagined I would be grateful for, but I am.  A key ingredient is in paying attention to the meaning I create.  All kinds of things happen to all of us.  Yet, we have different experiences of them based on what we make those happenings mean. Once I understood in small ways how I could shift my perspective and ask God to help me know a deeper or different meaning, life was full of hope and wonder again.  As I apply it to all areas of my life I feel more free.  It is as though something deep within my heart has been restored.  Then again, that is just what I make it mean.

My prayer for us is the courage to look at the kinds of meanings we place on our experiences and be willing to change the meaning to something in alignment with love today.