Emotional Jet Lag

Yesterday

We are all prone to take trips in our head while we walk and work through the present day. Many of us are frequent flyers on these little jaunts into our past and our imagined future. The journey out of today is often a fast and easy ticket. It is not, however, a free ticket. Take a quick trip into your past, and you’ll likely return with more baggage than you left with. Things you could have done, should have done and would have done if you had only known, only realized the fallout from your action or inaction. On your return trip, you will find some extra luggage with your name on it. These are heavy bags, things like regret, shame and bitterness.

Tomorrow

Tired of trips into the past? Excursions into your imaginary future are always available. The only limit here is your imagination. You can visit some future day and picture yourself in some dire, lonely and unbearable circumstance. You can imagine the hopelessness and despair you will feel. These trips should be easy to avoid, strangely they are not. We are drawn to them the same way we are to an auto accident on the side of the road or a bad carnival ride. Trips into tomorrow and beyond often leave us feeling anxious, unsettled and internally distressed.

Today

Today is the only day you can actually live in. Living well in the day you’re living in is simple; it’s just not easy. Start by canceling your trips into yesterday or tomorrow. You and I will never have a better or different past, so relax and do your best to show up today. Take a breath, lean in and try to keep the cheese on your cracker. Tomorrow will show up right on time. It may or may not look like anything you’re expecting. You do not know for sure, because you are not supposed to know for sure. Humans are not tasked with this kind of knowing, they are tasked to show up, so do that.

We need to be present. Our family is growing up one day at a time.

We cannot and will not go on these trips into yesterday or tomorrow. Don’t miss the opportunity to connect, to serve, to laugh, to listen, to pray, to bless, today! Stay in today. None of us need the emotional jet lag of these very expensive and habit forming trips. Let’s work harder to find the good stuff in front of us and around us. Somewhere in this day there is a treasure waiting to be found! Don’t miss it.

Application

Ponder:  Are you available today?  To bless, to serve, to love?  Are you more likely to travel into your past or future?

Prayer:  “God, help me to be present.  Every thought captive to you. No more trips to my future or past.  You have grace for today, forgiveness for yesterday and hope for tomorrow.  You carry all of my burdens. Help me connect with people you have given to me.  In Jesus name, Amen.”

Participate:  Reach out to someone you haven’t talked to in awhile and tell them how grateful you are for them.