Well, that was embarrassing. In my last blog post, I misspelled costumes. Although I was able to fix it on my website, my email subscribers received the bungled version.
Hours after sending it, I was watching the play, Oklahoma! in Aurora’s Paramount Theater. Jeff, returning from a bathroom break, showed me my snafu. Why was he checking facebook on his half-a-minute walk back to his seat? Simple. He’s a spaz.
Anyway, he handed me his phone and my mistake glared at me as “Pore Jud is Daid” (misspelling intended:) lamented in the background. Perfect theme music for despair, which used to be my reaction to a public writing blunder.
Old me would’ve panicked. Full on tears, shortness of breath, and heart palpitations as old sound bites and rehearsed lines assaulted my mind:
“You’re an idiot. You can’t do this. What will people think?”
However, in the past few years, I’ve declared all out war on my thoughts. After all, Paul tells us in Romans “to be transformed by the renewing of our minds.” I’m learning that, as wonderful as people are, they don’t define me.
I’m not gonna lie. Rewriting our emotional script is hard work. A daily, sometimes hourly, conscious effort. Author Jennifer Beckham compares shedding unhealthy thoughts and mindsets to the arcade game, Whack-a-Mole. You smack one down and another pops up.
But, that’s okay because when we take the offensive, raise our mallet, and keep smashing those buzzards, we grow further into who God created us to be. Whole and free. To live on purpose with a purpose.
So, the new me has a new reaction to public embarrassment. After a few seconds of mental stress, a bit of whining, and a couple deep breaths, I chalked up my blog misspelling to a lesson in humility. Number 2,485, 751. Then I took my own bathroom break, accessed the website on my phone, and fixed it.
Are you dogged by negative self-talk?
Join me on a true-identity search. In the next few weeks, we’ll look at mindsets and messages that shackle us from reaching our full redemptive potential.
We might uncover some downright uncomfortable naked truth. However, like my Texas friend says, “Ain’t no shame” because when we whack those moles, we find abundant life in our God-given design.
Peace, my friends.
© Robin Melvin 2015
Thanks Robin. I needed that reminder actually I need it daily. Living each day in the moment is amazing when I let go of “the next thing”
Hi Shelley! I’m glad you were challenged. Me too. Every day:)