So I’ve always loved to write. But I don’t always love to share. Nope. Putting stuff ‘out there’ can be vulnerable. It’s easy to be misunderstood, and even if not, it’s easy to feel misunderstood. I guess that’s why I like saying things are “a few thoughts on…” this or that. Because it’s not summative. It’s not the ‘whole truth and nothing but the truth’. It’s just me sharing thoughts…a piece, a little slice of perspective that will hopefully encourage somebody out there because these thoughts have encouraged or helped me.

I also know that grammar and perfect punctuation kind of goes out the window sometimes. (Oftentimes!)  I know myself well enough to know that if I scrutinized every post for proper punctuation and perfect grammar, well, I just don’t think I’d put much ‘out there’ at all. So I write like I talk. Which can be a good or a bad thing, lol. So…I want to share, but don’t at the same time. Anway, I realized a bit ago, that I have a whole lot of posts in draft that I’ve just never shared. (540 to be exact! ) Yep. That many. Guess I’m not as courageous in sharing as I thought, ha!  Here’s one that was written in May on mindset.  Here’s to ‘thinking about what we’re thinking about’!

As I drove home from work onto my street, here’s what I saw. It was beautiful.  The clouds looked like waves rolling on in. And clouds do that. They just roll on in. They do. And there’s nothing  you can do to stop that from happening.  But….. you can enjoy the view. And if it rains, you can choose to run for cover. Or you can break out your raincoat and umbrella.

Tides roll on in as well. They do. And there’s nothing you can do to stop that from happening.  But… you can wear your suit and swim hard and ride the waves. Or run back to the shore. Or only wade in up to your toes.

And in Hawaii right now?  Well the lava is rolling on out.  It is.  And sadly, there’s next to nothing that can be done to stop it. But you can make sure that you get out of the way when it rolls on in.  Yeah, getting out of the way, the area, off the island seems to be the best option. Sometimes leaving the situation is the best response….and in the case of volcanoes erupting, well, I think that’s the best choice.

Some things are inevitable. Some things aren’t. Life is full of waves and storms and destructive paths.  Sometimes we can escape them. Sometimes we can’t.

So here’s the thing. It seems to me that the more we focus on what we can do, the more we can actually do.

Mindset matters. Brain waves roll on in too, you know. Sometimes “waves” roll in that are like negative tapes.  But the cool, amazing thing is that most of us have a lot of power to control how long and how loud these tapes play. The Bible talks about “taking thoughts captive”… harnessing the wave that comes on in and running it through the filter of truth. Unlike harnessing ocean waves, we can actually have control on capturing and directing the thoughts that roll on in to our mind.

I could go on and on and on with words like a never ending flow of waves on the paper… thoughts flowing from my heart and mind about the way mindset impacts me, loved ones…even you. Because it’s a principle…that “as a man (or woman) thinketh in his heart, so is he (or she).”  And this week, my mindset was impacted by fatigue and frustration and a funk. Yep, waves were rolling in that I so didn’t want there. And it made me think not only about the inevitability of the waves coming, but also about the beauty of the ability to fight and direct those waves of thought and direction.

So you might be relieved to know that I won’t be offering an endless stream of thoughts.But here’s a thought that sums up a lot of what I’ve been thinking:

“We gain strength, and courage, and confidence by each experience in which we really stop to look fear in the face…we must do that which we think we cannot.”

 –Eleanor Roosevelt

Yes, sometimes, we’ve got to mentally push through to ‘do that which we think we cannot’.  Yep. Life can be  full of those moments. (I experienced one such moment tonight as I ran a SHORT distance around the track, ha!) Anyway, here’s to being an overcomer (not being overcome).  Maybe sometimes just barely finishing a race around the track qualifies as being an overcomer. (Like tonight for me). But…that’s step one. Maybe step two will be running the mile, or the 5k or the marathon. But it’s about having the courage and mindset to take the steps rather than sitting on the couch and telling ourselves the reasons why we can’t.  Sometimes conquering the greatest tasks can come by ‘looking fear(s) in the face…and doing that which we think we cannot….and turning the mindset into that which we can do…if we’re will-ing.  WILL-ing. Yes, like clouds or tides, brain waves will roll on in. We can passively ride them, or  we can decide which ones to ride and which ones to ride on out…because they take us places. Yep, mindset matters.

That’s my oh-so-more-than-two-cents for the night.

Blessings~

Heather