“Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous- how well I know it.” Psalm 139:14
I choose to make room for the feelings that guide my choices
Hey my faithful readers. Happy New Year. And if you’re just joining this journey, already in progress, welcome. It’s year 4 for the blog… wow. If you had asked me 5 years ago if I saw myself here, doing this, I probably would have given a much different version of this vision to you… but this one is working (for now) so we will continue. On this first day of a new year, I’m doing something a little different than how we typically start the year. Instead of making all sorts of promises to myself of ways to be different, and to improve, and all the changes I’m going to make… I am simply Embracing the complex creature that is me. What does that mean? Too often we look at the beginning of the year as a reason to change ourselves. We see a new year as an opportunity to focus on being different than we’ve been before. Change, change, change. But who says we need to change?
Psalm 139 is beautiful. It paints a detailed picture of how well God knows us and how long His journey is with us. God is with us in the before, and the after. In the known and the unknown. And He makes it His business to keep us the entire way. But more than the journey, Psalm 139 is a celebration of who we have been made to be, a thank you letter for being made so Wonderfully Complex. Isn’t that the most endearing thing you’ve ever heard? There’s nothing simple, or easy, or finite about what makes you who you are. Every hair on your head, every cell in your body, and every emotion you feel. Some feel otherwise, but I am a firm believer that our emotions guide our actions. They get us thinking and that’s what gets us moving. And when our emotions don’t get the time they deserve to be embraced (even when they can’t be understood) we shun the complexity that God has given us. I don’t want you to do that anymore. Today’s affirmations are simple and I hope you carry them with you throughout the year.
Affirmation 1: I am embracing my emotions. Choose to make room for the feelings that guide your choices. Be patient with them, and gracious with yourself as you discover and explore them. Be kind as you figure it all out. And seek support on this journey! Seek spiritual guidance so that you can remain connected to something larger than yourself, and seek mental health support to help make sense of it all. God created therapy.
Affirmation 2: I am Wonderfully Complex. And as the scripture goes on to say… “your workmanship is marvelous.” God did not make a mistake when He made you. The way you express yourself, the way that you love, the way you find humor… all intentional, all deserving of respect and dignity. Do not put yourself in a box this year because you’ve received some criticism or someone doesn’t like you for who you are. So what? That just means the complexity that is you was meant for someone else. Now do take heed, and respect where constructive criticism comes from. Respect that the relationships in your life do require compromise and you want to make the best choices to have a happy life. But that does not mean that something is just wrong with you because your style is different. Different does not equal wrong.
In 2023 I encourage you to get out there and daily conquer the voices that are telling you that you’re a mistake. You are not. Fight back against those thoughts that tell you that people would like you more if you were just different. No. Require more from love. Require more from the people you want to keep close to you in life. Require them to embrace you as you embrace your journey, and to be honest with you if they can’t. It’s ok if they can’t. This is another reason why therapy is so helpful… that stranger you’re afraid to tell your business to is more equipped to help you walk this path than you know. Give it a chance. I love you, and I’m always rooting for you. Happy 2023.
EMBRACING EMOTION: THE BLOG 