The Elephant In The Room Part 2

A couple of days ago I blogged about the elephant in the room and it's still there. Yesterday I forced myself to stop walking around pretending that the elephant wasn't there by having a conversation with one of my fellow associates about the elephant. We talked as women, we talked as mothers, we talked as human beings. When I introduced her to the elephant she said,  "this whole mess makes me sad!" "Why sad?" I asked. Because, she said "there were two people involved and they were both wrong, of course Zimmerman was wrong, he shot an un armed teenager, but Gigi, why didn't Trayvon just go home?" My answer to that was "only Trayvon Martin knows the answer to that question and he is forever silenced, but I imagine the reason he didn't was because he had every right to be where he was, doing exactly what he was doing, perhaps he didn't go home because he was
"Standing His Ground". To that she was silent. And the elephant got smaller.

The Elephant In The Room

There is a heaviness in the atmosphere. Some are dazed, some numb and sadly enough, some are elated. The majority of "us"  are angry. We go about our day trying to have a sense of normalcy. But deep in our hearts we know, things will never be "normal" again, or better yet, this is the new normal. We are all living in fear. Fear of living in this world we have created and fear of our lives, as we know them, being taken away. Remember this is life in an upside world, where wrong is right and right is....well, you know. The biggest case since The infamous OJ Simpson trial and there has not been one comment from my co-workers, some of whom I have worked with for almost 20 years.  The elephant in the room? The verdict! No matter where you stand on this issue, in someone's opinion, you are standing on the wrong side. They say "Lady Justice" holding the scales is blindfolded because justice is blind, perhaps she covered her eyes because she did not want to see how we would mishandle her beloved justice. There is an elephant sitting in the middle of the room, every room and he has tears in his eyes!  So do I! 

Defeating The Spirit of Busyness Part 2

"In his writings, a wise Italian says that the best is the enemy of the good" -Voltaire

This morning I had yet another epiphany! The above quote came to mind as I sat in quiet reflection. It gave me another reason to defeat the spirit of busyness. As I consider my life, my daily goings and comings, I realize that I am involved in a number of really good things. My career and work as a credit union marketer, my service to my church, my continuing education, my involvement with the FCCA and countless other activities are all good things. However, when I evaluate these things in light of what truly brings me joy, I realize that as the quote above states, the best really is the enemy of good. Let me explain, God has a plan and purpose for my life, that is the best. The problem is that I allowed fear to stand in the way of fulfilling that plan. Instead of moving forward toward the things that He was calling me to, I retreated back to the things that were comfortable for me, all those good things. You see, none of these good things, with the exception of Algebra (and I wouldn't excatly consider that one of the good things, only a means to an end) were challenging to me. These came natural.  Therefore, I busied myself with the good. Which, for a time, sufficed. But in the meanwhile, I gained weight, My skin broke out, my relationships suffered and I was miserable.  The plan and purpose of God, taunted me, called to me and loomed like a spector. The best is the enemy of good because behind good is where I chose to hide. Today, I commit to, as my GPS puts it, recalculating my route. How about you? Are you forsaking best, to work on good? Does the spirit of busyness have you convinced that you are already doing enough? Or is your plan and purpose calling you to something more? Hmmmm....