Perspective

There have been a lot of rocks in my path lately. Sour relationships, hurt feelings, unresolved issues ---all a part of the growing pains when reconnecting with people you have not been in relationship with for years.

I am different. They are different. Things are just...DIFFERENT!

Why are we so afraid of different? As if it SHOULD have a negative connotation; different doesn't have to be bad. It just means that changes have occurred---as they should. How would life be if we all just remained the same? Same place, same personality, same person as always. BORING! Reconnecting with old friends may sound nice and fluffy but old relationships tied with new personalities can be a rocky path.

A new way to look at it
While walking along the breakers by the harbor in my hometown, I found that there were many disrupted patches of dismantled rocks in my pathway.  Unlike my childhood memories, my path contained dangerous ditches, which made it difficult to get to the harbor's point, where an island holds an abandoned lighthouse. Apparently, Superstorm Sandy came through the North East not so long ago and completely pounded this local park, particularly disheveling the breakers, which remain ruined in scattered areas. As I remember, the breakers were always neatly pieced together, boulder by boulder, but today brought a new challenge on my journey to the point.

Then vs. Now
While processing what has happened to me the past six months being back home, the pathway to the lighthouse became a metaphor, symbolic to my current life journey. The same path that once seemed so simple to walk was now much more difficult; it was different. I was upset, at first, to see what used to be an organized path now have moments of disorganized chaos, but that soon changed when I realized how fun it was to develop a new strategy as to how I was going to get to the my destination. There were moments of uncertainty and fear that I would hurt myself (I wasn't wearing the best shoes for rock climbing), but once I got into a rhythm, there was no stopping me.

Deal with today
The same is true with my life journey. Tons of things have happened in the past five years I have not been in Connecticut. Life has come and disheveled the path I once knew to be straight and narrow, clear and direct. These past few months I have been upset because of it, and while fear and uncertainty have crept up to discourage me from moving forward, I have two choices: turn back or find a new strategy.

No turning back
In life, we are going to have bumpy roads. We can let these boulders block us from getting to our goal or we can use them as stepping stones. The difference between a barrier and a stepping stone solely depends at what angle we are looking from. We have what it takes to change our state of mind when we rely on God. Paul said: We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. 2 Corinthians 10:5. While we have Christ as an anchor for our soul, He empowers us to make choices and take action. We have the authority and the power through Christ to take our thoughts captive and set them in line with a Christ-like mentality. The moments of discouragement, doubt and fear are perfect moments to take thoughts captive and determine a God-like strategy on how to proceed. When we do that, we allow ourselves to see what God sees, and our perspective changes---the boulders are no longer barriers, but stepping stones to the next place God is taking us. With God on our side, there is no turning back. 

This time, getting to the point was a much more rewarding experience. 

Blessings!

xoxo,

V