Very good habit. I’ve practiced it for a while. I clean my house regularly, of dust, of dirt, and especially of junk. My grandmother used to clean our house when I was little – I’m not sure anybody else noticed, but I wondered then and I remember now how she could continue doing it every single day, while complaining nobody cares to keep it clean. I did the same for a good while. I kinda stopped lately. My house is not dirty – I just learned to delegate cleaning! Do they do it without me telling them? Not really. Do I get mad? Less and less. It’s not worth my poor nerves.
A few years back, I started to also clean my life of toxic relationships. I discarded people I once loved who did not love me back. I left behind the sadness provoked by little meanies – still struggling with some memories but will get there! I said good bye to country, fellow men, family members, jobs, church… Not much is left, really. That’s perfectly ok though. Why would you care for somebody who doesn’t give a shit? Why would you wanna be like God? It’s soooo uncomfortable!
Discarding is healthy. Discard pain. You try to talk to people – if they don’t hear you it’s because they don’t want to, there’s nothing wrong with their ears. It’s pride. Pride is very toxic and you’d better get rid of it, the sooner the better. Problem is, pride is insidious – especially when wounded. And how can you distinguish between wounded pride and downright abuse? Tricky. As in you do something which looks right to you but then somebody says you’re wrong – and you won’t admit common sense arguments (I guess that would be pride speaking out) or you won’t let them hurt you (I guess that would be abuse?) Do we all tend to be abusive when we care about our wounds or weaknesses so much that we just try to protect ourselves – sometimes by kicking back or screaming?
Discard abuse then. Turn your back and run. Refuse to be abused. This is not pride. Say thank you to God for the experience and don’t dwell in it. If you can’t avoid it and leave, pray for detachment. It’s wonderful to not care. I’m still learning it.
Some would say discard yourself to protect others. But Jesus said: love your neighbour like yourself, I.e. if you don’t love yourself, you won’t be able to love your neighbour. Others would say discard dreams, you gotta be real (they usually discourage you because they need to feel in control and they fear something about you – that something which makes you free and thus powerful). Or discard play, you need to be an adult. But Jesus said: be like small children. His reality is not here, though paradoxically it starts here and you can get glimpses of it if you just look… How do you see what’s important then?
Discard. That’s how.
writingforjoyblog 