Your One Thing

Tell me if this sounds familiar: You’re making your way through your day. It’s not the best day, but things are going well. You might change a few things if you could, but you’re up and at ‘em, and really, that’s all that matters in the moment. And then, BAM! Along comes that one thing that derails all those decent feelings you were just having.

This happened to me today. I was on my way to take our son to therapy. We’d been a bit rushed, but things were going okay. I was wishing that the weather wasn’t so gray and rainy, but I can’t change the weather, so I was choosing to just be happy that we’d gotten up and ready and out the door on time.

And then - BAM! - a traffic jam on the highway. I drove past the exit before ours, knowing our exit was 4 miles away and wondering if I should have exited sooner, but given the weather, I figured all the other possible routes were just as congested. And sometimes, there’s a lot of traffic, but it opens up a bit before our exit. Well that was not the case today. Not only did it NOT open it, it stopped. Several times. I knew we’d be late. I was frustrated that a 45-minute drive could take almost twice as long in bad weather. I was wondering what kind of traffic patterns there are that cause major back-ups on all the highways if there’s an accident on just one road? I was generally frustrated and not happy that we’d be late. My attitude took a major dive.

Just moments before, I was feeling okay about the day, but that ONE incident happened and I let that one thing take over and determine my attitude.

I think sometimes we give away too much power to that one negative that tries to creep in.

What if I had let the traffic continue to affect my mood? What if I stressed about our inevitable tardy arrival to therapy? I may have been more inclined to speed - and in that weather, it would have been even more unwise than usual. I may have snapped at my son, making him feel badly for something outside of our control. I may have made other unwise and unsafe decisions while driving - speeding to get through a yellow light, or swerving in and out of traffic to get to an open lane.

That one thing could have had such a negative impact on my day. It could have completely altered my day, maybe my life. What started as one small, negative thing, completely out of my control, could have changed everything.

What if we didn’t give away so much power to THAT ONE THING?

Because I was feeling tempted to hurry, and knowing that would have led to unwise decisions, it was pretty easy to recognize that I had given too much power to this one thing, completely outside my control. And I think that’s the key - I think we need to work on taking every thought captive. I think we need to realize that living in peace, or in joy, or in contentedness is a choice. It is our choice. Every day, and every moment.

But it takes work. It takes effort to consciously consider just what you’re thinking about. It takes a desire to want to change our reactions so as to consider how we can get our heart to where we want it to be, rather than to let it be dragged along to where that one negative thing may take it.

So the big question -

What are some ways that we can keep our focus and our heart where we want it to be?

*Be Aware - Consider what you are thinking about; consider how you are feeling.

*Choose Positives - Sometimes it’s hard to get ourselves out of that negative rut. Find something positive and focus on that - make that your “new”one thing.

*Invest Elsewhere - Once you’ve chosen something positive to focus on, lean into it. If you are focusing on great weather, go all out - notice the sunshine, the beautiful clouds, the temperature. You’ll probably notice that you also see beautiful leaves, you may hear the songs the birds sing, you may smell the sweet fragrance of new flowers. Your ONE CHOICE to shift your focus will inevitably lead to other wonderful things to focus on - a better way to invest your energy.

*Take Note - I find it very helpful to go back over the situation later; to reflect on other choices I could have made; to note if I chose wisely.

*Attitude of Gratitude - When we can be thankful for something, no matter how small, it becomes so much easier to be thankful for the next thing. As we focus on the many things we can be thankful for, we fill up our heart with those things, leaving less and less room for the negatives.

CHALLENGE:

If you notice a situation like this, work on focusing your energy and your heart where it should be focused.

How will you change what you’re thinking to avoid giving too much power to that one thing?

What will become your new one thing on which you’ll focus?