dailydatewithgod

There used to be this commercial of a woman who in the middle of a stressful situation would picture herself in a bubble bath and say “Calgon, take me away!” We can all relate to the wish to sometimes be plucked magically from someplace we do not want to be and placed somewhere we do. We tend to associate the circumstances with the cause of our distress. The only problem with that is on any given day we may find ourselves in a similar situation and feel like we can handle it, no Calgon needed. Our interpretation of what is happening is caused by our state of mind. When I feel like I do not have the resources to handle an experience, I will look for some kind of rescue. I have never been partial to baths per se but I can see the appeal of being surrounded by warmth and sweet-smelling scents. The sweet was my rescue of choice for many many years. The reality is I did not have the tools I needed to face life effectively. The spiritual path of the 12 steps contained the tools needed to face life on life’s terms as they say in the recovery world. On my daily dates with God as I began to see the truth of who I am, I realized the futility of looking for rescue at all. Sure, there are moments when I think if only God could rescue me from this. I get stuck thinking I do not have what is needed to handle the situation. The distinction is I do not turn to food or flagellating myself with negative self-talk anymore. I recognize my desire to be rescued and take a deep breath. I reconnect to the power of my heart which has the wisdom and the courage to face what is in front of me to face. By pausing and using my breath to awaken my heart, there is a space between thinking a rescue will make everything alright and noticing what it truly is I want to be rescued from. Is it really the situation or is it my thinking about the situation? In the space of my heart is the wisdom to notice if I am actually in the present moment. Most of the time I am not seeking rescue from this moment but from a time in the past where something similar did not turn out well and I am using that to forecast a future that will not go well. Or I am doing the bad forecasting without any past evidence. When I breathe I can more clearly see that if I do not have what is needed, I do not need to be rescued, but maybe need some support. Maybe what is called for is reinforcement, not rescue.