trust

“Don’t spend a lot of time imagining the worst-case scenario. If it doesn’t happen, you have wasted time and energy and, if it does, you will have lived it twice.”

Michael J. Fox (paraphrase)

Last year, I was tuned into one of the morning shows and saw in interview with Michael J. Fox. He struggled with sitting during the interview, his body displaying the effects of Parkinson’s Disease. Despite the huge changes this disease has brought into his life, he sees it as gift. In fact, he calls it the gift that keeps on taking. He has a remarkable attitude.

I often, when teaching, speak on the subject of being in the moment. In class, we look at the fact that we spend the majority of our time either thinking about something that has happened in the past or projecting what may happen in the future. When we are absorbed in either of those places, we are not present in the now and we are missing what, essentially, is our life.

When the interviewer asked him about what the future may hold for him, Fox shared the above quote. It stopped me in my tracks. I can find myself considering the worst case scenario. I tell myself that if I envision it and, if it happens, I will be prepared. I do this on amusement rides (what if a bolt breaks), airplanes ( what is that vibration?!), eating foods in foreign countries (exotic parasites), self-diagnosis (jaw pain becomes brain cancer), just to name a few. In the past I had already considered that if it didn’t happen, I had wasted time and energy thinking about it. I had not thought that, if I am obsessing about bolts, I am missing the fun of the ride. And, I certainly had not considered that if it did happen, I would have lived it twice! I am thinking that is not so good.

I believe my best option is to be in the now, in the present, and trust that God will give me what I need when I need it. The way I live my life everyday displays either my trust in God or lack thereof.

Can you think of an area of your life that keeps you projecting into the future? Can you stop running the worst case scenario and trust Him with the outcome? Perhaps you can pray this prayer with me today….

May I, today, be present to what God has for me in this moment and trust Him for whatever tomorrow brings.

Grace and peace,
Deb


http://www.flickr.com/photos/jakig/2047616146/
photo by jaki good