Doing Things Differently

For a month’s worth of posts, I (Scott) am critiquing my own past blog posts. I’m viewing this as an experiment in being willing to admit when I’m wrong, change my mind, and to do so publicly.

Our subconscious is powerful and cunning.  I do not consciously choose to start fights with Brittany in order to release tension from my suppressed grief.  I do this naturally.  The body instinctively takes what it needs in order to maintain something akin to homeostasis (as close as it can get in difficult circumstances anyway).  

I do not consciously choose to go after her over cleaning either.  Only in retrospect am I able to discern why that area of our life is such an easy target for my practice rounds.  

I also do not consciously view this argument as an attempt to regain control in the face of powerlessness.  Yet, this is exactly what it is.  I know this because I know this:  this particular area is one in which it is easy for me to feel superior.  In reality, I am not superior in any way.  I have my own chores that I ignore for long periods of time or, when I'm not ignoring them, cut corners on, or address them half-heartedly, etc.  In this particular fight I am convinced that, regardless of what Brittany says, I will end up on the moral high ground.  

You see what I'm describing?

Control.  

Scott’s 2021 thoughts on this post:

You should be sensing a theme. I no longer put much stock in the subconscious. Things happen beneath the surface we’re not consciously aware of, of course, but I don’t know that we gain that much by trying to figure them out…because…how do we know if we’re right? 

Instead- I suggest paying attention to things you want to do differently. I wanted to stop blaming my wife for things she didn’t do. In order to do that, I needed to de-stress, in order to do that, I needed some more alone time, and I needed some more hobbies. I could have accomplished all of that without raking myself over the coals for things my mind was doing that I wasn’t aware of.

So- what would you like to do differently?

Day 5: Comfort and Cheer

The fifth antiphon:

O Rising Sun, You are the splendour of eternal light and the sun of justice.

O Come and enlighten those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death.

O come, Thou Day-spring, come and cheer our spirits by Thine advent here;

disperse the gloomy clouds of night, and death’s dark shadows put to flight:

Rejoice! Rejoice! Immanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.

During stressful seasons it is natural to fall back into living by the law of scarcity. It will require a conscious effort on our part to remember that the cheer we might bring springs from the original source - God himself. We do not have to give away that which we do not have or will never possess. But we are given the opportunity to recognize the gifts of light God is providing for us day in and day out.

At night, it is hard to remember such things. Our anxiety creeps up on our quieting mind. Fears run rampant. It’s not just children who fear the monsters in their closet.

So in the daylight, we must run with some degree of haste to comfort and cheer those around us. No comfort and cheer in your heart? No worries! Practice it anyway. You were never the source!

Day 5: Comfort and Cheer

The fifth antiphon:

O Rising Sun, You are the splendour of eternal light and the sun of justice.

O Come and enlighten those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death.

O come, Thou Day-spring, come and cheer our spirits by Thine advent here;

disperse the gloomy clouds of night, and death’s dark shadows put to flight:

Rejoice! Rejoice! Immanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.

During stressful seasons it is natural to fall back into living by the law of scarcity. It will require a conscious effort on our part to remember that the cheer we might bring springs from the original source - God himself. We do not have to give away that which we do not have or will never possess. But we are given the opportunity to recognize the gifts of light God is providing for us day in and day out.

At night, it is hard to remember such things. Our anxiety creeps up on our quieting mind. Fears run rampant. It’s not just children who fear the monsters in their closet.

So in the daylight, we must run with some degree of haste to comfort and cheer those around us. No comfort and cheer in your heart? No worries! Practice it anyway. You were never the source!