My aunt suddenly died three days ago. She went into the hospital last week because she had a hard time breathing. The doctors recommended that she have open heart surgery for fear that she may go to sleep one day and not wake up. At first, everything concerning the surgery went well…and then during her recovery exercise, she collapsed. From there her heart started to fail, next her organs began to collapse, and then, just like that, she was gone. I saw her just last week. We weren’t currently real close but there was a time, when I was younger, that I was always at her house. Needless to say, her death has affected me, as death always does. She was only 55.
“The Lord said to Samuel, “How long will thou mourn for Saul, since I have rejected him as reigning over Israel? Fill thine horn with oil, and go…” (1 Samuel 16:1).”
With a heavy heart…Let’s go to work.
We as men don’t talk about our feelings. I have a rap lyric that states, “Since knee high we’re told don’t cry be tough, which explains why, we don’t try, to ever open up.” Regardless of if we talk about how we feel… or not, we often do let our feelings dictate our actions and behavior.
The thief of memory is… feelings.
Let me explain.
Yesterday, you decided you will get into shape. Today, you went to the store and bought workout clothes, some protein bars and shakes, discarded all of the non-healthy items in your refrigerator, and set your alarm for tomorrow morning so that you can get up before work and execute your first one-mile run. Why did you decide to do all of this? Because you want to live a long, healthy life. It’s now the next day, the alarm rings, and what happens? You FEEL extremely tired and sleepy. You hit the snooze button once, and then again, and eventually decide to go back to sleep. You say to yourself, “I’ll just try tomorrow.” What happened?
Your feelings robbed you of your memory. Because you FELT tired, because you FELT like staying in your soft, cozy bed, you FORGOT why you set the alarm in the first place. You let how you feel steal your “I Am…”.
God asked Samuel, “How long will thou mourn for Saul?” He then said to “Fill thine horn with oil…and go.” God was saying, “I’ve let you have your time to grieve, and you’ve been in your feelings long enough. It’s now time to remember who you are, remember the mission, gather yourself, and get to work.”
This is my solution on how to handle our feelings. Many of us allow our feelings to take over the driver seat and then we just become its passenger. Instead, think of your feelings as music on your journey. What does one do with music? You let it play. And here’s the key thing about music… it doesn’t go on forever, there is a start, middle, and END. So, let the song of heartbreak and sadness play, let the song of anger, frustration, and anxiety play. Feel the song. Sing with it. Dance with it. In other words, whatever you are feeling, give it it’s proper time in the sun. But, DISCLAIMER, before you go crying in front of women and drying them up, I suggest you go somewhere in solitude and sing alone, how you dance to your music is nobody’s business but yours. And then, when the song has finished, fill your horn with oil…AND GO!
When I was in Navy boot camp, we marched…a lot. In a repetitive chant, the drill instructor would yell, “Left…Left…Left, Right, Left!” That is what you must do. Regardless of how you feel, you must march forward towards your objective putting one foot in front of the other, “Left… Right… Left.”
Who are you? Where are you going? What is your M.V.P (mission, vision, and purpose)? What is your why?
REMEMBER these answers always and do not let your feelings rob you of your memory.
WALT FACTUAL
