Outside the box- 3 ways to see the positive In a negative situation
I have felt especially cruddy the past several weeks. Last month was filled with constant motion and my body didn’t handle it well. It’s in moments like this that the full reality of my chronic health condition hits me like a sledgehammer and I sink to a dreadful low.
I feel stuck in a box, surrounded by walls that close me in. The moment I step outside of those parameters I pay the price, it’s incredibly frustrating. This box is confining, constricting, confusing and conflicting. But you know what else comes in a box? A gift. If I view this box from the standpoint of a restricted prison, I become overwhelmed and anxious. But if I choose to see it as a blessing, my spirit is renewed and uplifted. So how do we frame some of these heavy negative ‘boxes’ in a positive light? Here are a few suggestions based on my own ‘box’:
VIEW IT AS A GIFT
Silver linings are often hard to see but they really do exist if we look hard enough. The phrase ‘I can’t’ is spoken daily in my world. Because of my health, I can’t drive very far, I can’t eat certain things, I can’t overextend myself, I can’t get on an airplane right now (or maybe ever), I can’t jump on a trampoline with my kids, I can’t survive without medication, I can’t, I can’t, I can’t. The head games these two words create are almost too much to accept. But, when I step outside of my sadness and alter my perspective, there’s a gift in my circumstances. Because I am limited, I am also home with my family more than I’ve ever been. I’m spending more time with my kids and husband and making precious memories I may have never made. I have more freedom and space to carry on quality conversations with my friends. I have learned to understand and embrace the value of time, money, relationships, and, above all, my faith. I am getting so much better at resting and truly being still. All is not lost. In fact, more has been found because of where my life is at. God knew what I needed, and he wrapped this gift in his love, mercy, faithfulness, and grace.
VIEW IT AS AN OPPORTUNITY
I cry A LOT over my health condition. It’s not an easy thing to accept. It’s chronic, it’s limiting, and it’s emotionally paralyzing at times. So how in the world could this ever extend opportunity? It has changed my perspective forever. It has turned my heart both toward God and toward others in a way no ordinary circumstances ever would. I see things so differently now. I feel people’s pain so differently, I love differently, and I live differently. I have been removed from a life of helping myself and filled with a passion for helping others. I may be changed physically, but I’m also changed in mindset and purpose. I want to spend the rest of my days with outreached arms, helping wherever I can and letting go of my old way of living.
VIEW IT AS A TEMPORARY PAIN
Sometimes our deepest pain can feel brutally permanent. These physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual cuts embed their scars in the very core of our being and they possess a sort of chronic quality that can haunt us throughout our remaining time on earth. I get it on my own level. I have scrapes and bruises in each category. I’ve lost people I couldn’t imagine this life without, the news that my health condition simply is what it is was a Hulk-style punch to the gut, I’ve struggled with questions about why God would allow some of the things he does. I’ve gone down to some rather dark places. But then I’m reminded of eternity. Of course, my human desire is to have a more comfortable existence in this life, but I trust that the Lord is using each trial here to make my time sweeter in Heaven. This heartache and aggravation won’t last forever, they will all cease to exist the day I meet Jesus. Until then, his joy will be my strength!
Try to reevaluate the box you feel trapped in. Can you view it as a gift? Can you see the opportunity in it? Can you allow yourself to believe the pain is fleeting and your tears will all be wiped away the second you step through the gates of Heaven? Hold on to the version of joy that only comes from Christ. His life was hard too, but oh what a gift it was!
“Don’t be dejected and sad, for the joy of the Lord is your strength!”
-Nehemiah 8:10b (NLT)