SHADOW MAX
Hi there.
How are you doing this fine week? I hope all is well with you and if not, that God heals your heart.
How are you doing this fine week? I hope all is well with you and if not, that God heals your heart.
Welcome to today's gist.
I'm going to start by saying I've not felt like my wearing my writing hat in the last couple of days, but I've decided that I'll be as consistent as possible here regardless of whether I feel like it or not.
I read Brooke St James' Treat you better and there's this story that was recounted there that I thought to share: Sadie had two dogs; a big Lab named Max, and a little Scotty dog named Shadow. One random afternoon, Sadie was petting Max and she tried to make him as comfortable as possible –she brought throw pillows down from her couches, put one beneath his head and one each for his 4 limbs and proceeded to pet him, he was the epitome of comfort and relaxation. All the while Shadow just watched, used to Max being the center of attention. Feeling guilty, Sadie turned to rub Shadow's furs. Max couldn't stand it! He immediately stood up from his position of prime comfort to go and investigate what was special about Shadow that she was getting even a little bit of Sadie's attention, so he gave up his position of prime comfort because he wanted to go see why Shadow was receiving the little affection she was receiving.
This story struck a cord for me: I've recently been feeling like my life's been stuck, especially when compared to those around me. This was a necessary reminder that I didn't, and still don't, need to gauge my progress and value by what others are doing or how life's going for them because being so focused on them would blind me to all that God is doing through and in me. So, rather than focus on all that I think is not going well, my focus should be on all that's going well with my life.
Does this mean I'll be content in stagnancy? No! What this means is that my motive for going after whatever it is should not because others are, I'm deciding that if I'm going to do something, I'll be doing it because it's necessary for my life and journey, not because it seems like I should do so. One thing I've learned is that we all have different routes as we go through our individual life journey; so what may be absolutely necessary for someone else may not be so for the actualization of my own destiny and I'm trying to live in that knowledge. I'm not going to disrespect you by lying that it's been easy. Some days I forget that I shouldn't be given to comparisons between my place in my journey and where others are. It becomes especially difficult when I see so many opportunities that I am not getting, but I'm learning to be more intentional about reminding myself that I am where I should be in my journey, it may not be where I'd like to be, but it is where I am now so I'll do my best to enjoy the experience while I work towards achieving more from my life because what if after running after everything everyone is doing, I neglect to do what I should be doing in line with my destiny?
I'm going to start by saying I've not felt like my wearing my writing hat in the last couple of days, but I've decided that I'll be as consistent as possible here regardless of whether I feel like it or not.
I read Brooke St James' Treat you better and there's this story that was recounted there that I thought to share: Sadie had two dogs; a big Lab named Max, and a little Scotty dog named Shadow. One random afternoon, Sadie was petting Max and she tried to make him as comfortable as possible –she brought throw pillows down from her couches, put one beneath his head and one each for his 4 limbs and proceeded to pet him, he was the epitome of comfort and relaxation. All the while Shadow just watched, used to Max being the center of attention. Feeling guilty, Sadie turned to rub Shadow's furs. Max couldn't stand it! He immediately stood up from his position of prime comfort to go and investigate what was special about Shadow that she was getting even a little bit of Sadie's attention, so he gave up his position of prime comfort because he wanted to go see why Shadow was receiving the little affection she was receiving.
This story struck a cord for me: I've recently been feeling like my life's been stuck, especially when compared to those around me. This was a necessary reminder that I didn't, and still don't, need to gauge my progress and value by what others are doing or how life's going for them because being so focused on them would blind me to all that God is doing through and in me. So, rather than focus on all that I think is not going well, my focus should be on all that's going well with my life.
Does this mean I'll be content in stagnancy? No! What this means is that my motive for going after whatever it is should not because others are, I'm deciding that if I'm going to do something, I'll be doing it because it's necessary for my life and journey, not because it seems like I should do so. One thing I've learned is that we all have different routes as we go through our individual life journey; so what may be absolutely necessary for someone else may not be so for the actualization of my own destiny and I'm trying to live in that knowledge. I'm not going to disrespect you by lying that it's been easy. Some days I forget that I shouldn't be given to comparisons between my place in my journey and where others are. It becomes especially difficult when I see so many opportunities that I am not getting, but I'm learning to be more intentional about reminding myself that I am where I should be in my journey, it may not be where I'd like to be, but it is where I am now so I'll do my best to enjoy the experience while I work towards achieving more from my life because what if after running after everything everyone is doing, I neglect to do what I should be doing in line with my destiny?
Another lesson this story taught me is that I should celebrate the successes and wins of those around me; Elisha Mamman said when God blesses your neighbour, it means He's in your neighbourhood. My attitude to people's wins and successes should be to honestly celebrate with them as I trust God for mine, after all, the sky is big enough for all the birds to fly! What I stand to gain by spending my time vexing that others are winning is that I'll belittle what God has already given me, and I will cut myself from focusing on what would otherwise give me my desired wins.
I hope you found this read helpful, see you next week!
Love,
Achenyo.
PS: I'm toying with the idea of taking a break from here, I'll try to inform you first but in the event that I suddenly happen upon the break, please bear with me and know that I'll be back the earliest I can; till then, we still dey o!
It is well Achiee-jo...😄
ReplyDeleteEven in the well my darling.
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