This country today seems more and more abusive to me. Maybe that is how all generations feel when they approach mid-life. I can't be sure. But it feels true to me.
Growing up, i experienced emotional abuse and sexual abuse. I have experienced near-physical abuse (which is basically physical abuse that doesn't threaten your life and/or isn't "that bad") in many relationships. So i know a thing or two about abuse.
Some things i know about abuse:
~ it doesn't have to leave a physical mark to damage a person forever.
~ it doesn't have to be daily to have a terrible impact on the victim's ability to function normally.
~ it goes undetected nearly as often (if not more often) as it gets reported or discovered.
I know one more thing about abuse... sometimes, we abuse ourselves.
Sometimes, the biggest enemy in our life is inside our own head. The voice of shame. The cry of condemnation. The whisper of regret. The shout of insignificance. The clamor of criticism.
Personal rejection.
Isolation.
Shame.
We are a broken people. Why? I wonder....
Then i think...
... our entertainment revolves around real lives that are a mangled mess (reality t.v.), crime shows (trauma and wickedness invited into our homes nightly), music about the perpetual heartbreak (break-ups, divorce, and betrayal) that goes with being human, and video games on our phones that we carry everywhere so we can kill the zombies and conquer the garden or launch the birds to kill the piggies... instead of connecting with the human beside us or appreciating the smell of rain.
It's all so insignificant. But is it also bringing us to the brink of stress and trauma on a regular basis and leaving out minds there?
Perhaps life wasn't easier before the personal computer could fit into our pockets, but it surely was simpler. And scientists have proven our brains were not built to handle stress well. So, we're broken.
What do broken people do? They hurt. What do hurt people do? They hurt people. Sometimes, hurting people hurt others. But all too often, we hurt ourselves. With our thoughts. Even, with our words. Thoughts of defeat. Words of condemnation.
Let us take captive the harmful things we allow inside our lives, including those inside our own heads, and purge for emotional health. Let's all turn our hearts and minds toward more positive things, shall we?
Growing up, i experienced emotional abuse and sexual abuse. I have experienced near-physical abuse (which is basically physical abuse that doesn't threaten your life and/or isn't "that bad") in many relationships. So i know a thing or two about abuse.
Some things i know about abuse:
~ it doesn't have to leave a physical mark to damage a person forever.
~ it doesn't have to be daily to have a terrible impact on the victim's ability to function normally.
~ it goes undetected nearly as often (if not more often) as it gets reported or discovered.
I know one more thing about abuse... sometimes, we abuse ourselves.
Sometimes, the biggest enemy in our life is inside our own head. The voice of shame. The cry of condemnation. The whisper of regret. The shout of insignificance. The clamor of criticism.
Personal rejection.
Isolation.
Shame.
We are a broken people. Why? I wonder....
Then i think...
... our entertainment revolves around real lives that are a mangled mess (reality t.v.), crime shows (trauma and wickedness invited into our homes nightly), music about the perpetual heartbreak (break-ups, divorce, and betrayal) that goes with being human, and video games on our phones that we carry everywhere so we can kill the zombies and conquer the garden or launch the birds to kill the piggies... instead of connecting with the human beside us or appreciating the smell of rain.
It's all so insignificant. But is it also bringing us to the brink of stress and trauma on a regular basis and leaving out minds there?
Perhaps life wasn't easier before the personal computer could fit into our pockets, but it surely was simpler. And scientists have proven our brains were not built to handle stress well. So, we're broken.
What do broken people do? They hurt. What do hurt people do? They hurt people. Sometimes, hurting people hurt others. But all too often, we hurt ourselves. With our thoughts. Even, with our words. Thoughts of defeat. Words of condemnation.
"I didn't..."
and
"I shouldn't have..."
mixed with
"I did... (and shouldn't have)..."
and
"I should have... (but didn't)..."
Let us take captive the harmful things we allow inside our lives, including those inside our own heads, and purge for emotional health. Let's all turn our hearts and minds toward more positive things, shall we?
"Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things." - Philippians 4:8
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