MAKING MOUNTAINS OUT OF MOLE HILLS

Rev. Bonnie MacDonald, SW Washington

Romans 12:1-2

"Therefore I urge you brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living ami hoty sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect."

THE BATTLE IS IN THE MIND

Often we allow ourselves to get all worked up about things that, upon closer examination, aren’t really that big a deal. We focus on little problems and concerns and blow them way out of proportion.

-  Being cut off in traffic.

-  A slow driver in front of us.

-  Getting in line and that line moving slower than the others.

-  Not being able to find something.

-  Someone taking our parking place that we have been waiting for.

-  A waitress taking a long time to wait on us or bring us our food.

-  Family members not picking up after themselves.

-  Someone ruining something of yours.

-  Someone borrowing and not returning something or returning it torn or broken.

-  Others not doing their job and making yours harder.

Rather than letting it go, and going on with our day, we convince ourselves that we are justified in our anger. We play out an imaginary confrontation in our mind. Many of us might even tell someone else about the incident later on rather than simply let it go.

Why not instead simply give the other person some slack. Try to have compassion on them, especially another driver, and remember how painful it is to be in their place. This way, we can maintain our own sense of well-being and avoid taking other people's problems personally.

There are many similar small frustrations that occur every day in our lives. However it pays enormous dividends if we learn not to worry about little things. So many people spend so much of their life energy in this kind of frustration that they completely lose touch with the magic and beauty of life. When you commit to working toward this goal you will find that you will have far more energy to be kinder and gentler.