Rise up for the Lord –not for pride or for folly but for the Lord…Trying to please others is one of women’s biggest challenges…
You may have heard this one: An old man, a boy & a donkey were going to town. The boy rode on the donkey & the old man walked. As they went along, they passed some people who remarked it was a shame the old man was walking & the boy was riding.
The man & boy thought maybe the critics were right, so they changed positions.
Later, they passed some people that remarked, "What a shame, he makes that little boy walk." They then decided they both would walk!
Soon they passed some more people who thought they were stupid to walk when they had a decent donkey to ride. So, they both rode the donkey.
Now they passed some people that shamed them by saying how awful to put such a load on a poor donkey. The boy & man said they were probably right, so they decided to carry the donkey. As they crossed the bridge, they lost their grip on the animal & he fell into the river and drowned.
The moral of the story? If you try to please everyone, you might as well kiss you’re a#% good-bye.
I think women are the biggest people-pleasers around. We make it a habit of trying to please everyone and then we wonder how we end up losing. We lose relationships. We lose money (Yes, salespeople are just one more population we can seek to please!). We lose time. And, we can lose our ever loving minds. This is serious business.
I think if my own mother would learn how to take better care of herself, she would not be so sensitive to imagined slights. Just this past winter, my mother gave me two sweaters for Christmas. We saw each other last week at my Uncle’s, I made sure to wear one of the sweaters. But, instead of the expected smile, she said, "What's the matter? You didn't like the other sweater?"
(See, you can drive yourself nutty trying to please some people…)
University of Chicago studies show a great sense of humor can add an additional 8 years to your life. Stanford University studies show a good belly laugh can give you health boosting benefits equal to 10 minutes on a rowing machine. Every time you have a good hearty laugh you burn up 3 1/2 calories. Laughing increases oxygen intake, thereby replenishing and invigorating cells. It also increases the pain threshold, boosts immunity, and relieves stress.
Make it a habit to read jokes. There are plenty of clean jokes online!
And, don't take yourself too seriously, either. Trust me--no one else does!
I am going to share with you a little about my own struggles through this blog and I am going to share with you some of the ways I have learned to take care of myself, too.
I’m learning about bold faith. I'm learning how to take care of myself. But I have had one main question about taking care of myself: how do I actually take the time from doing such-and-such for so-and-so to do things for my self?
Aren’t I supposed to take care of our relationships with others? Isn’t the fulfillment of my faith found in community? Isn’t putting myself first, selfish? What would Jesus do? …
Hmmmm… well, I recall Jesus often going off by himself, in fact, I think he went off by himself often for it to be mentioned as many times as it is mentioned in the Bible…And it makes sense, doesn’t it? Jesus was no less human than we are and he knew that if he didn’t go off by himself from time to time…. Well, who knows what would have happened?
:o)
I mean, I my husband proved he doesn't get me... my husband and I debated the purchase of a new car for weeks. He wanted a new truck. I wanted a fast little Mustang so I could zip through traffic around town but that was way out of our price range. So, finally I said to him "Look! I want something that goes from 0 to 200 in 10 seconds or less. And my birthday is coming up. You could surprise me." So, for my birthday, he gave me a brand new bathroom scale.
Sure you can laugh…my birthday was three weeks ago, in three more weeks the cast will be removed but my husband is doing really well with his crutches for now…
But, that’s my point! A lot has to happen before we finally decide to do for ourselves. And, learning to laugh at what life hands you is one way to start! Go ahead, laugh! Laugh because God loves you! Laugh because that is actually true!
