DON’T FORGET THAT FEELING
Emotions are unreliable; change suddenly; are easily influenced by circumstances, and words; they work better when you lead them with strong and decisive leadership, with fact, and logic.
Emotions can’t think, they can’t make decisions. Emotions are great followers, but terrible leaders. People who are emotion driven are unpredictable.
You must train emotions by telling them what you expect of them.
My wife Susie and I are in crazy mode. Last night we boarded an Alaska jet with New York as the destination. Upon arrival at JFK we boarded a return flight to get us back to Spokane.
Logically the trip makes perfect sense to us. Cheap airfare to get 75k Gold Status, which pays huge dividends in 2016 ALASKA Air travel.
Emotionally it makes no sense, but thankfully emotions can be changed by our will power.
We get to choose how we want to feel, emotions don’t drive our proverbial train. Imagine a train with 3 cars: engine, passenger, and caboose. The engine represents facts. The passenger car is our faith, and the caboose is our emotions/feelings.
Since emotions are so fickle when we have what I call, “sensational, positive experiences,” the Bible exhorts us to remember them.
The following story illustrates the purpose of this Words of Hope.
Our excellent ALASKA flight attendant was a perfect person for today’s Words of Hope.
This was our conversation:
“How long have you been flying?”
“7 months,” she said with a big smile.
“How did you feel when they told you the job was yours?” I asked.
“I was surprised, I teared up I was so happy,” she said.
Smiling back I said, “Don’t forget that feeling! If you forget that feeling you might lose your appreciation for your job. It will become just another job.”
Only God Has the character to total forget. He tells us, He remembers our sins no more.
Humans were built by God to remember both knowledge of past experiences, and also feelings of past experiences.
By not forgetting, we can avoid doing things that brought pain, and we can relive experiences worth reliving.
Kenna can reenergize herself time after time just by remembering the joy she had when she heard, “you’re hired!”
The Crowell challenge: think of some of your greatest experiences. Each day for one week, relive those wonderful, joyful, and maybe tearful memories. And next time your emotions go south, Stop, take a Time out. Shower those negative emotions with PMA (positive mental attitude).
Psalm 102:2 has and will always be education for emotions I wish to relive to empower me to live joyfully and productively. Try it. It works!
