(This post was originally published on October 27, 2012 right here.)
Have you ever found yourself out of your comfort zone? Or perhaps you were in that zone, but just the thought of an inch outside of it made you cringe, get all clammy and migraine-prone?
I get you.
So here were the initial and major changes I had to contend with:
- From single life to married life
- From city life to provincial life
- From working in an office to working at home
- From being with family and friends all throughout the week to having no family and friends (except my loving and patient husband, of course)
I had two choices:
- Resist the changes, remain in rigidity…and be miserable; in one word, MISERY; or
- Accept the changes, adjust accordingly…and be happy; in one word, HAPPINESS
Sounds like a no-brainer, right? Anyone in her right mind would choose happiness. Guess what? I found misery quite quickly. OK, so I wasn’t in my right mind then. I was in my left (sorry, couldn’t resist!).
This reminds me of a Bible passage in Deuteronomy 30:19 (NRSV) that says, “I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Choose life so that you and your descendants may live.” No-brainer. But for some weird reason, we humans tend to choose the harder route…learning the hard way in the process. At least we learn.
For the record, I was glad to be married. That was a change I readily welcomed. For the rest, I struggled.
I resisted, I accepted, I resisted, I accepted, I resisted, I accepted, I resisted…I.GOT.TIRED. I learned. I accepted, I adjusted, I became happy. Whew!
A guy named Jimmy Dean said, “I can’t change the direction of the wind, but I can adjust my sails to always reach my destination.” But Jesus, my Savior, said it best: “The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit” (John 3:8, NRSV).
I wanted to follow the wind of the Spirit. So I had to make choices deliberately. It took time. I had to learn to adjust every day. Every moment even. And each step of acceptance and adjustment brought me deeper into a place called peace.