CHOOSING TO EXHALE

Too many of us like life to be hard. We get turned on by the frenzy of
running here and there, trying to fix things, all at the last minute!
As a recovering hard-aholic, this is what I know now: Working hard and
doing the hard work are not the same. One of my favorite bible verses,
Proverbs 3:6, says, "Seek His will in all you do and he will show you
what path to take." In the past, I lost sight of this promise. I
thought my life had to be hard to be worth anything. I had watched the
adults around me struggle with such finesse, I grew up believing it
was necessary for my proper development. I struggled through bad
relationships, believing hardship, hurt and pain were the natural
order. I knew how to take a punch, and I refused to be knocked down. I
now know that just because YOU CAN TAKE A PUNCH DOESN'T MEAN YOU HAVE
TO STAND IN FRONT OF A FIST, particularly when that fist is your own.
Life does not have to be hard! Our frenetic pace is often an attempt
to deny those places within that are terrifying to face. If you serve
on five committees in church, you can deny the unhappiness in your
marriage. How can you be faulted for your nasty attitude when you're
working 20 hours overtime each week? When you're overwhelmed by
demands, how can you be expected to attend to your inner landscape? We
settle for less than we want because we are too busy to pursue our
heart's desires. We say yes when we need to say no because we don't
have the time to deal with confrontation. Working hard becomes an
excuse to avoid addressing our deeper needs. What I know now is that
when we believe we are deficient, we create distractions. When we are
not willing to confront the anger, fear, shame, guilt and resentment
we may harbor, we struggle. But the truth is, we discover who we are
not by wrestling with our circumstances, but by listening for God's
guidance. WORK CLARIFIES AND ENHANCES OUR PURPOSE. IT DOES NOT DEFINE
IT. PRAYER DEFINES OUR PURPOSE. MEDITATION CRYSTALLIZES IT. STILLNESS
SHOWS US HOW TO DO IT. You life is a demonstration of your
relationship with God. It's time you free yourself from WORKING HARD
and to choose instead to do the HARD WORK - sitting in silence,
listening to God, and being obedient to the wisdom of your inner
voice.