Gently Lean In

You gotta gently lean into the feelings...

What good does it do to walk away, shove them down, or ignore their existence? You gotta gently lean into the reality of what you are feeling at the important moments in your life. Rushing in and falling victim to the damage those feelings bring is never good, and frankly only leads to hurting others. Walking away just subjects our hearts to hardness, hardness that only gets harder the further we walk away. Shoving them down is like filling our mind and soul with explosives that sit, waiting for the fire, the match, the one flicker that will make it all blow...and we all know it will blow, it has to. All it takes is the right ingredients at the right time, and there it is, for all to see - years of shoving it down all in one explosion. Ignoring it is an option that is just a fantasy because really, if it touches us or changes us it is humanly impossible to ignore it - God didn't make us that way. Jesus was perfect, and even He couldn't ignore what moved Him, changed Him, redirected Him. Even He chose to gently lean into the feelings. He didn't rush in and hurt those around Him, looking for blame. He didn't ignore it or shove it down or even walk away. He gently leaned into His pain and the pain of others. Gently leaning into the pain we cause, feel, and experience isn't being a coward, it's choosing life, it's choosing freedom. You see, gently leaning in helps us to deal appropriately in a crisis, in a time of need, during intense feelings. It allows us to make the most out of an important moment when actions hold power, so much power. When actions have the ability to steal away what we need most, each other. Leaning in gently is allowing wisdom to be your leader as it demands that pride, selfish ambitions, and the ability to damage someone sit in the back seat. Gently leaning into the feelings is allowing good to rise up. It's allowing good to rise up in great times, and in hard times. Gently leaning into the feelings is powerful, being of strong mind, having self control, and loving others more than yourself. So, my friend, when you want to rush in, slow down. When you want to ignore the feelings, at that moment expose the lie that you even have the ability to do that. When you want to shove it down, remember what having a peace of mind and heart taste like. When you want to walk away, remember you and the person involved, and know, remind yourself, right there, in that moment that relationships are eternal and is more important then doing what is easier to do. Because really, as easy as leaning in sounds, it's one of the hardest things we can do. Coping, being in touch with the truth, going to those places that hurt so bad is difficult. That's why we need therapist and doctors to help take us there. Leaning into your feelings is brave. It's right. It's needed more, in you and in me. Rushing in, waking away, shoving it down, or thinking you can ignore it is like inviting a cancer to live deep inside us and destroy us, change us. It's allowing that cancer to bring death to who we are, who we were created to be. It's allowing that cancer to kill us slowly. The effects of not gently leaning is passed down, down to the children we love. We don't choose for it to be passed down, but if we live in it, they live in it. If we do all but gently lean in, the reality of it is, they will too. So, be free today to lean in. Lean into your feelings, good or bad, with boldness and compassion, with intensity and purpose, with intentions and peace. Lean into your feelings and know that in leaning in we take back what was stolen, we taste victory where defeat once lorded over us, we see the light of hope where despair has blinded us. When we lean in we are healthy in body, mind, and spirit. When we lean in we are choosing freedom for ourselves and for the generations to come. We get to be free, free from bitterness, unforgiveness, shame, the past, the words spoken over us, to us and about us. We get to be free from mistakes, pain so heavy that it brings physical sickness. We get to be free... and I believe it starts with just gently leaning in.