Bless It or Break It

You know how something develops in your life, and you think, hmmm, this could be interesting?  Then, as time goes on, you become slowly, almost unconsciously, more invested.  You start to picture yourself in that place or circumstance.  In a moment of clarity, you realize that that vague interest has turned into a burning WANT and you realize that terrible disappointment could be right around the corner.

It could be a job, or a move, or a promotion or a relationship or any host of things.

So, how do you handle it?

I mean, we all WANT to think we handle this sort of uncertainty with grace and trust.  Surely I am not the only one in the world who handles these sorts of things with less grace than strictly warranted under the circumstances.

My dear friend Lori always prays, Lord, bless it or break it. This is Your decision, not mine.

"But you know, God, I really WANT it!!"  That is exactly the time when I need that sort of holy intervention.  When I want something too badly, I can't see clearly, I ignore red flags, and I simply take the action.

When the anxiety sets in, I have to work Very Hard to not fall back into unhealthy behavior -specifically eating a boatload of junk food and curling up into a corner to obsess.  Sugar/carb cravings are apparently a natural physiological response to stress and the worst thing to actually do to combat it.

What does help?  Eating healthy and exercise -right at the time it is hardest to do.

The Mass readings from this past Sunday focused on the fact that following Christ means striving.  Striving means that just knowing the right thing to do isn't enough -you have to actually do it especially when it seems like the hardest thing to do. 

There are MANY harder things in life than just eating right and exercising, but when the time comes to drink the healthy green shake instead of the salted caramel brownie or tie on those running shoes instead of crashing in front of the TV when every fiber of your being is pleading to numb out, those choices can seem positively Herculean.

Nothing worth having is easy.  Whether that is living a healthy life or striving for truth or standing up to something that is wrong or living with necessary uncertainty for a while, being called to a higher way of life is not the comfortable road.

It is a simple way, not the easy way.