Eight Steps to Re-Start Your Life
One of my oldest memories comes from when I was about three years old. A few stone steps in the back yard of the place we lived led down to a cavernous basement with rat traps and an ancient heating system. The entrance to this danger zone was made of heavy, old timber that creaked on its hinges like the doorway to a dungeon. That morning the door was closed and locked, so when I started down the short flight of stairs and lost my toddler footing, my face crashed into weathered wood. My nose took the brunt of the impact; I have a slightly deformed nostril to this day.It was a painful memory, but tasting blood in a dazed state of mind didn't define who I became in life. Getting up and finding help did. That is the missing step in those who cannot break free.
Regardless how many positive affirmations we declare, humans crash into all sorts of barriers during their tenure on this planet. Denials and affirmations help. If I keep myself centered on positive thoughts, doubtless I'll fall down fewer basement steps and kiss fewer hardwood doors. But gravity and circumstance can collide to make me pay the debt of nature. The trick is to get up and find help when bloody noses appear.
While musing this bit of painful personal history, I jotted a few notes to myself about how to re-start my life when the inevitable crash-and-bash occurs. Nothing terribly brilliant, nothing startlingly original. Just a little Practical Christianity to file away for a crummy day.
Eight Steps
1. Show up.
2. Work steadily.
3. Trust your gifts.
4. Stay clear, clean, and calm.
5. Talk it out.
6. Give love to get love.
7. Believe in yourself.
8. Help people, starting with yourself.
You can provide the commentary. These thoughts require no advanced degrees to interpret. Remember, you are never alone. You are worthy, important, fixable, God-powered, irreplaceable. Get up, get moving, and find help.
