It really is THAT simple...until I complicate it.

Lately I've been doing some (very) mild soul searching. I kind of hit a low point and in sheer desperation began seeking, something, ANYTHING to pick me, dust me off, and kiss my boo-boos. Would i like some cheese with my ginormous wine?!? No, thanks. I'll pass. Instead, I did what I do best: turned to books. I dabbled in the self-helpy section, and floated around in spiritual limbo before realizing, that all I've got to do is: SHOW UP. Here I sat, throwing my pitty party, totally convinced that I was never going to get back up. My problems seemed of enormous proportion, certainly too big for me to tackle. My problems here in the natural world, could only be resolved with supernatural hep. So what to do? Well, after reading, meditating, and talking to friends, I have ultimately come to the conclusion that I can and must do only 1 single thing: SHOW UP. That's right. Just SHOW UP. Here's the thing--I have come to believe that if I do my part, everything within my capacity to improve my condition, God will do the rest. For some reason my twisted (read: lazy) mind mistook God for a shoe salesmen at Nordstrom who I could beckon my size and style to, and he would go to the "back" and magically reappear holding the answer to all my problems while I sat on a plush leather chair. Nope. Not even close. See, so far, I'm learning that God helps those that help themselves. When we behave in self-destructive manners there's this little voice inside that quietly says, "yea, whoo-hoo. This feels goooooooood." Then the next day you wake up and another voice (usually of reason) looks back upon the previous day and extracts punishment. All. Day. Long. Thus this vicious cycle of good/bad repeats and progress hesitates to be made. So, in recognizing this, I made a deal with myself. If I screw up, so be it. I don't need to go and make it worse. Accept my mistakes. Roll with the punches. Even if they suck. But DON'T STOP SHOWING UP. See mistakes as just that. Mistakes. They are going to happen, but we make the choice to use them as a learning tool to our benefit or a weapon for our own defeat. When you decide to show up, you take your mistakes and flaws with the grace of a woman and not the grief of a child. You dust YOURSELF off, pick YOURSELF up, and promise YOURSELF that the pangs of this mistake will not be felt again. That's showing up. Once you make that decision, the rest is up to God. But God can't do his part, if you don't do yours. God isn't wearing a suit at Nordstrom waiting with a pair of stilettos, perfectly in your size, to slip on your cinderella'd foot. God is the grace that comes when we do our best. When we make the commitment to do our best, we can count on two things: #1) There's nothing more we can do. let the chips fall where they may. and #2) God doesn't operate in our natural world. He's in the big leagues. He is capable of far more than our miniscule minds can even comprehend. So, try it. Just show up. Find whatever "brown sauce" is lurking in your life and attack!! I know, that if you sincerely (and only you will know how hard you try), make a "go" at it--you will be utterly amazed at how mighty you are. Show up. And wear comfy shoes, you might have to do some walking.