CAUGHT

This morning I caught my almost three year old son about to jump from his race car bed to a nearby wooden chair in his bedroom.  I'm not quite sure how he thought this was going to work out for him, but I quickly scolded him with threats of taking toys away and standing in the corner if he ever attempted this again.  It may have worked for today, but I'm sure they will be another equally appealing not-so-great idea around the corner.  And, while he might not think so at the time, hopefully one day he will appreciate the fact that he got caught.

I sure feel that way sometimes.  I feel like I'm just going about my day, swimming along, looking for something to eat, and someone just yanks me by the mouth out of the water and I'm left flopping around on the deck of the boat until they get bored with me and throw me back in.

I used to feel frustrated and angry when things didn't go as I'd planned.  I have an idea and can't make it happen or plans fall through and you just feel irritated.  And this morning in the midst of my son's attempted acrobatics, I realized something.....

What if maybe, just maybe, I was yanked out of the water before something REALLY BAD was about to happen?

Like what if a bigger, faster, stronger, smarter fish is about to swallow me whole?

And I'm pulled to safety just before he reaches me.

What if every time I've had a genius plot and it's been foiled, it has been to my benefit, only I'll never really know because I don't see what horrors might have happened instead of my minor inconvenience?

I never really thought of life this way until I realized just how close my son came to breaking some unknown bone this morning.  Thank goodness I caught him, and thank goodness I didn't miss the lesson.

So I'm going to think of "getting caught" in a different way now.  I mean, if you ever found yourself in the air, free falling towards certain destruction of some kind, wouldn't you want to be caught by someone before you have a chance to crash into the ground?

Instead of feeling like I've been hooked, maybe I'll think of it as someone throwing a safety net under me.

And maybe then I'll stop feeling like a fish out of water when things don't go my way.

LOST

Do you ever just feel sort of like you are wandering around in circles, and although you know the general direction you'd like to go in, you keep having detours and roadblocks and eventually, you just feel lost?

We all have those days, where we've become so far removed from everything that we aren't sure what road we are on or even sometimes where in the world we are going.

These are the days when life isn't perfect.

You're mad. Or sad. Or somebody let you down, and hurt you in a way you never expected. 

Sometimes the hardest thing to stomach is when you let yourself down.

You can't figure out how to get out of the funk created by a problem.

One thing is for sure: if you always have your eyes on the rear view mirror you're not going to be able to steer yourself in the right direction. 

So get over it.  Forgive them.  Maybe, you need to forgive yourself.

It's okay to go on with life and be happy and stop feeling like a fish swimming around in a giant bowl.

Nobody, nobody, NOBODY, is infallible.  There is no point in burying the hatchet if you're just going to put a marker over the site and keep going back to visit.

Even if you aren't sure how to move forward, do it anyway.  When in doubt, just take the next small step.

Eventually one step becomes two and then three and then before you know it you're miles from where you started and feeling much better, much closer to home.

You do this just by first wanting to take the step, and then simply taking it.  You do not need someone to lead you, or to stand behind you and push you all the way.  You just need to make the move and go.

When I think about what feels like "home" to me, I think about my relationships with the people I love.  And even when I'm in my house, if there is a problem between myself and any of those that I love, I still feel a spacial disconnect and feel like I'm not quite sure of the ground I am standing on.

I only feel better when the issue is resolved.

You might think I'm making this sound soooooo easy. 

You might be thinking, "Yeah right...like I can just 'get over it' and then everything will be better."

I'm not saying that there is a magic fix to the problems we face in life.

I'm saying that you have to be genuinely willing to be a part of the solution.

We can blame other people for a lot of things that happen to us in life,

but we can't blame them for how we react to anything.

I'm simply suggesting that the next time you feel lost, just try and take the first step in the right direction and see how it works out for you.  You might be pleasantly surprised.

Follow you're heart and you'll never get lost.