R.A.D.I.C.A.L. Thoughts
"Man maintains his balance, poise, and sense of security only as he is moving forward.” ~Maxwell Maltz, author, creator of Psycho-Cybernetics
I found a little book in my parent's basement entitled How to Win Over Worry, first printed in 1959. The price on the cover was 60¢. This book was one in the fourteenth printing. The book obviously addressed a problem that lots of people had back in 1959 and still have today. Worry. This author, John Edmond Haggai suggests that poise is one of the antidotes for worry along with praise, prayer and peace. Most of his book deals with the poise part. Webster defines poise with words like these: "balance, stability, ease, dignity of manner." Often in my midlife divorce recovery process, I did not demonstrate poise. I demonstrated things like: wildly out of control, undignified, ugly, loud, infuriated. Dignity of manner maybe showed up once or twice. The same with stability, ease, and balance. Divorce is sort of the antithesis of poise. However, Haggai's supposition is that once we know the compelling, impelling motivation of our life, we can be the embodiment of poise, no matter what is happening around us. No matter what crazy things other people are saying and doing. No matter how much our external life seems to be spinning out of control. His premise is that if we have our big picture in focus, we can be poised period. His theme is that for spiritual people, the idea that "God is near." is the compelling motivation that will allow us to show poise in every situation. Even when it doesn't feel like it in the middle of divorce, if we can realize that God is, indeed, near, things smooth out. If we know that no matter what, God is near, we can have a poise that startles everyone. Let's startle them with our poise and not startle them, say, with a flying object. Easier said than done, I know, but let's try concentrating on the fact that "God is near." Then we can demonstrate the poise that is a result of that realization.
"Don't fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God's wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down."
Philippians 4:6-7a (The Message)
