Right now I am feeling really good - alive, motivated, energized.  Why? I think because this morning I did another honest look at how I deal with life and am willing, once again, to face reality. 

One of my "besetting sins" (in the NIV, "the sin that so easily entangles") is procrastination - putting off what must be done.  I'll just share what I wrote in my journal this morning:

"I cannot escape the reality that I cannot have life without stepping into it, without being aware of my longings in relationship, repenting of taking the easy way out that leads to death, and turning around toward what leads to life.  THERE IS NO WAY AROUND THIS!  Any attempt to get around this is deliberate, chosen, arrogant denial of reality!  Do I want to face reality or not?  That's a no-brainer!  Of course not!  :)" 

I feel good right now (a little before noon) because I have made good use of some time without appointments this morning to get some things done that I had been avoiding facing.  For example, for some reason calling an insurance company to find out what I need to do about a payment they sent back in January that i never got was one thing I kept putting off. 

One thing I have noticed is that there is usually no better time to do what needs to be done than now, today.  I would say I believe that is true but if one's life gives evidence of one's beliefs, that is not as strong a belief as I would like to think!

I've so often seen people energized by a decision to face an unpleasant reality that they've been avoiding because they think something will get worse if they face it.  It isn't our realities that are so much of a problem as it is our resistance to accepting those realities.  People get better when they face reality, no matter how unpleasant it is.

Sometimes persons in a marriage simply don't want to admit that things are as bad as they are.  But if they do honestly and humbly face how bad things are they often find they have resources to deal with it that they didn't know they had.  It's the not wanting it to be the way it is that really makes us suffer.  Grace is given when it is needed, and it is needed at the point one chooses to face up to what is real.  Yes, there is a kind of brokenness that often precedes facing reality, but that brokenness becomes an opening for grace and the truth that is freeing.

Is there an unpleasant reality that you need to stop resisting or avoiding and put your arms around and embrace?  If you really want to live, you will do it!

"Jesus, sometimes I think I would like life to give me what I want without me investing very much.  Thank you for not rescuing me from the suffering that goes along with that way of thinking.  Thank you for inviting me to engage the life that is in front of me and moving through it.  Help me to keep in mind that that Life is a gift to me and others.  And may my life be a gift to You. Amen"

I work with individuals, couples, and families to identify the ways of life and death in their lives and help uncover the motivation to choose that which leads to life, whether it be through counseling or spiritual direction.  - Sheldon Swartz, MA/LMFT