The Little Things

It's the little things in life.

It's the little things that seem to grate on my soul more than anything. It's the tiny things that seem to get blown way out of proportion. It's the minuscule details that threaten to ruin a perfectly good day. It's the little things in life that cause me to go overboard on the emotional ship.

This week has an overboard kind of week.

My plans were kicked to the wayside to make room for God's plans, and let's just say that I did not stand aside idly. In fact, standing is too neutral of a word. I might possibly have been seen jumping up and down in tantrum stance on the side of the road.

Just maybe.

And it would not have been a big deal if I moved on with my week... but I didn't. I let my disappointment fester. I let my anger seethe out tear by tear and allowed bitterness to camp on site. My life was a whirlwind of emotions and, rather than tame the sea in a healthy way, I chose to let the waves keep slamming the shores of my life. As I began to sink under the effects of so many emotions, I realized that not dealing with my emotions is just as bad as dealing with them in a negative manner.

Dealing with my emotions with food does not solve the problem screaming for attention; it just pushes the mute button. When I make the choice to use food to solve the anger in my life, I am not effectively dealing with the emotion. In fact, I am only building the volcano.

Wallowing in my emotions is no better. You see, when I sit in the pain, anger, disappointment, and sadness, I am doing just that: sitting. I don't attempt to sort through the situation. I don't try to move on.

I just sit.

Sit and sulk... and wait for the next catastrophe to occur. As the emotions pile higher and higher, my energy for life grows smaller and smaller. The little things that shouldn't be a big deal become a big deal, and I start to harbor resentment in my bones.

It's not a pretty picture, but it's one that needs to be painted.

At some point, we need to move on from not using eating disorder behaviors to actually dealing with the emotions. Yes- taking food out of the equation is great progress, but is it really effective if all you do is drown in the sea of emotions?

No.

There has to be a way to effectively deal with those emotions without food. There has to be a way to handle the disappointments and heartache in life without sinking. There is a way, and as this week goes on, I'm going to show you how to find it.