Watch Your Pronation

From a message I sent to a fellow over-thinker:


Do you have people tell you sometimes, “You think too much?” I get that all the time. They just don’t know what melancholies have to go through just to keep it together.

At the risk of saying something not spiritual enough, here’s something I have found that works for me: Take a stroll down each virtual mental pathway, and face each and every unknown.

The unknown is the food fear loves best, and though you can’t know every outcome in real terms, you can envision the probably outcomes in your mind. Do so, and trusting in the all-wisdom of Jesus, become “ok” with each and every possibility, checking yourself, of course, to make sure you are still in Him.

People may object, saying, “If you’re “ok” with anything that could happen, then you don’t really care what happens.” If training your mind to trust Jesus in every possibility is not caring, then I suppose they are correct.

Another way to picture this concept is in the natural world when engaging in physical training—running, for example—particularly when you’ve gotten out of condition. The prevailing philosophy seems to be “set a sight-goal,” and focus on that to get you through the challenge of keeping going. You know, pick a landmark ahead and center your attention on achieving that point, and then when you do, pick another goal up the road a ways and do it again.

For me, in the spiritual, and the physical, that philosophy is torture.

Instead, focus on the actual process of the exercise. Check to make sure your breathing is correct, you’re not over-pronating, or under-pronating, and try to enjoy the burn-barrier (when muscles/lungs start burning and you want to quit) and enjoy the challenge of smashing through that barrier. And, try to enjoy the scenery.

Translated into the spiritual, I don’t mean go into some kind of self-awareness meditation mode. There is no Zen path to Jesus, only the Cross can get you to Him. It’s not “leaning on your own understanding” I’m talking about, it’s “in every way acknowledging” Christ, and “whatever you do, do it as unto the Lord.” And enjoy the chase.

I don’t want to tempt your intelligence to be insulted; I’m sure your brain has encountered this concept before, but perhaps someone who reads this can be encouraged. And when they say, “You think too much, “ just ask them, “How do you know?”