Love vs. Fear
“Love is what we are born with. Fear is what we have learned.” That is a quote from something I wrote in my journal on 5/14/18. It reminds me of the idea I started yesterday related to where you and I choose to place our focus. Most of my life, I have loved ideas and sometimes struggle with action steps to take the idea from my head to action. Let me share an example of taking an idea from my head and making it a day to day action.
The love and fear idea come from a biblical model of these two worlds we can get caught up in that are rooted in where we put our focus. In Genesis 2 we are introduced to this reality, “in the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.” This idea has helped me tremendously over the years. The “tree of life”is rooted in the kingdom of God, a spiritual reality that has always existed, a spiritual reality that is harder to see and recognize day to day. The other side is the “tree of knowledge of good and evil.” This is the world you and I live in day to day. We see and experience this world and because of that it is easy for it to become our focus. If you think about these two trees, you and I have the ability to swing back and forth. I have a house tree in both, but I also have complete control of which tree I choose to live in. The tree of life is eternal and rooted in LOVE. The tree of the knowledge of good and evil is temporary and rooted in FEAR.
I get to choose each day which tree I am going to live in. I have been working on this for well over 20 years. I have learned some different practices that help me stay in the tree of life. I could list several but I want to suggest one…one very simple and profound way to keep you in the tree of life. Science has proven that practicing daily gratitude improves mental and emotional well being. For some that might seem a little too basic or simple, but I personally know it works. Here is a basic practice to do each day. It takes a few minutes and is a game changer.
I have been journaling for the last 25 years. It has taken me years and years to be consistent with this practice, but for the last 8-plus years I have been pretty consistent on a day to day basis. There are many ways to do this! I personally prefer to write on paper and use a journal. I write many different things in my journal, but I start each day with a written gratitude. This can be as simple as you want it to be. Grateful for sleep, coffee, sunshine, getting a run in, your job, dog, cat (I think that counts), something or things in your life that create gratitude. Sometimes my gratitude goes a little deeper; specific gratitude for God’s amazing grace and love, my wife, children, certain people or friends and how that have blessed me.
If you start your day on a consistent basis with a gratitude, it slowly begins to impact what you focus on and what you focus on gets bigger. You and I have pain, problems and challenges every day. This is the reality of the tree of good and evil. I need to be aware of these things, but I want my focus to be on the tree of life. I believe the tree of life is eternal. The tree of life reminds me that this brain tumor may take my life, and I will leave the world of good and evil. I believe eventually the transition will be to the tree of life, the spiritual world where pain and suffering go away.
So what are you grateful for today? I am so grateful that I have had some time to write down my thoughts. I am grateful for the wonderful cup of coffee I had this morning, and that my wife loves and supports me even though I am a difficult turd some days. I am grateful that I am about to take my beautiful dog Gracie on a walk in the sunshine. None of these things eliminate that I have a brain tumor; I can’t work right now; and that Tuesday someone is going to cut a hole in my head. Practicing gratitude keeps my head right. It keeps me focused and living in the Tree of Life.
So join me today. What are you grateful for? Write it down and share it with someone. Enjoy a beautiful day and remember you are loved and of great value.
Peace,