A question was posted to a group of men that I gather with each week - "What falls out of you when you are shaken?" The imagine that immediately came to mind for me was that of a tree trunk violently tossed back and forth, with leafs, small branches and fruits falling to the ground. I then began to wonder, what are MY leafs, branches and fruits?? How do I define them and what are their importance to me?
When I was a young boy, being shaken provoked fear. The nature of it was unsettling to me and my leafs were tears, my branches represented worry, and the fruits were my dismay at what was happening to me.
When I became a young man, being shaken lost its visual effect on me, and turned to something more mental and emotional - losing a friend or family member, going through a breakup, getting into a fender-bender or failing a class. In some regards, the thought of being shaken was an indication of loss of control, or lack of the ability to prevent it from happening in the first place.
As an adult, I came to realize that shakeups in my life happened for a reason. It was those shakeups that formed who I am today. The real question for me is how I respond to them now that I'm on the back side of life.
I would like to think that I handle shakeups with grace, prayerful thanks for the lessons it teaches me, and motivation to do better the next time around. The reality is that I still get angry from time-to-time, tears come and worry captures me.
I may never get to a point in my life that shakeups don't bother me, but I hope to keep learning from them and be able to turn my tears into joy, my worries into trusting, and my dismays into contentment.
A Common Man
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