Have you ever had something stuck in your garbage disposal blades?
I have had this happen a few times, but playing around with a wrench and pushing a reset button usually takes care of the issue.
Although there was that one time I had a penny stuck in the blades. I couldn’t feel it when I carefully inserted my hand in the drain (the power was shut off to it!), so I ended up paying a plumber around $100 to have a penny retrieved.
Ouch.
Things get stuck in garbage disposals, toilets get clogged, and we humans can get stuck in our lives,
I know. I’ve been there… in the past and in recent years.
We can intentionally get stuck when we engage in some serious self-preservation, protecting our energy and trying to minimize stress. An example of this might be when one is navigating a health challenge or some type of life crisis. We don’t want to add more stress to our lives, so we place boundaries around our energy and our time–it’s a smart thing to do, and that’s what I have done in the past couple years as my extended family has walked through some challenges. I intentionally allowed myself to be inert in certain areas.
Praise God we are all in a good place now.
Many times, though, we can park ourselves in places because of loss, rejection, and a number of other things.We roll around in our heads why someone treated us a certain way or why such and such happened.
And we sit and sit and stay stuck.
We may mourn our losses or we are stuck in anger. At some point the anger or trauma or grief has to come out, and that’s a critical step in getting unstuck.
It’s a reset, if we view it as such.
And so it was on a recent Friday night that someone–an individual to whom I used to be close– started a text thread with me and crossed a line. Specifics are not for public eyes, but he has someone in his life I’m sure would be quite upset to read a few lines.
I shut it down quickly, but for the rest of the week, my blood boiled with things I had held within me, and I knew the pent up anger of a few years HAD to come out. It was stuck in my body.
So I wrote–without a doubt–the ugliest email I have ever written in my life. God and I are dealing with my ugliness, but boy, was that release cleansing. While my language was harsh, I think the good Lord might understand, and I guarantee that person–someone with whom I have held hands and prayed numerous times– won’t be contacting me again.
It’s really very sad, but that weird exchange was a godsend…
The anger evaporated, because it was released. I freed myself from mental “crap” that had been holding me back, and I give myself abundant grace for having been, well… a bit of a fool.
Exit gray cloud…
In the fifth chapter of John’s gospel, we read about the invalid man beside the pool. He’d been there on his mat for years when up walked Jesus, who asked him if he wanted to be healed.
His reply has always puzzled me. He didn’t answer “yes” or “no.” but rather he gave excuses for why he couldn’t enter the healing waters.
Jesus told him to pick up his mat.
Friend, we can make the decision at any moment to pick up out mats, those comfort zones where we have been parked too long, whether intentionally or because of something that was done to us.
I remind coaching clients that their time is ultimately God’s time, but do I always follow my own advice?
No.
And that’s changing.
I love being on my yoga mat, but I don’t want to park on other mats.
In other words, I don’t want to be stuck.
Pick up your mat. Push the reset button.
We have a life to live.
Pennies may get clogged, and people may engage in some online “cheating, ” but we don’t have to live under those clouds.
The time is NOW…
Pick up your mat, and start walking.
Amy Walton is a certified life, grief, and stress relief coach in coastal Virginia. She’s also a Christian author, teacher, and yoga instructor who daily seeks to live her life to the fullest and honoring God… even when she has to once in a blue moon raise her voice. Connect with her at amywaltoncoaching@gmail.com.
