What's In a Dream?/Live It!

Working on attitude is a lifetime quest.
Translation: I'm not going to solve that for you (or me) with this entry.

I'm still thinking through how to improve my attitude about the overload of activity in my life. Life's been so busy, in fact, that the frantic pace, the clutter, the sense of panic has invaded my dreams.

There are some things you can do to ease the heavy burden of activity in your life (like letting go of non-essentials). But life is just busy, period! So what is it about my attitude that can change when it comes to the overkill of busyness?

First the practical, then the spiritual.

Practically speaking, I worry too much. There is this need in me to please people, to put on the best face for everyone. In the past, it has helped create the overload. But I've learned how to say "no" to requests, which helps keep sanity in my schedule.

What I haven't learned is how to suppress the feeling that I'm somehow letting people down--either when I don't do what's desired or I don't hit this unattainable level of perfection that exists in my head.

This leads to a performance mentality, where performance becomes a measure of self-worth. At times, I can be my own worst enemy, judging myself harsher than others do (but assuming that others are judging me in the same way).

Does any of this sound familiar? Do you see how this can add to a frantic, panicky feeling surrounding the everyday activities of life? Especially when it hits high levels. The key for me is to move to a more realistic expectation of what I can fit into my life and a more reasonable grading scale.

That moves me into the spiritual. An acquaintance of mine who hit a brick wall in terms of his ability to cope with overwork introduced me to the concept he described as "being instead of doing." He didn't explain the comment, but he was talking about the Christian walk. Unfortunately, Christians all too easily move into a doing mentality.

Christ died on a cross to give us what we couldn't attain for ourselves--forgiveness for these imperfect lives we live through an act of total, unconditional grace. We become Christians by accepting this gift of grace. Yet, we quickly move to a doer mentality where we feel we have to perform tasks to give our Christian walk credibility.

Christ called us "friends" in the gospel of John. He also said we are "joint heirs" with him. So why do we feel we have to earn those places? We need to see this clearly--it's us and not God. We do this to ourselves.

On earth, the day we are born, we are some one's son. Nothing we do can change our status as a son. In this life, though, we can be either a good son or a bad son. There's no such marker in heaven. Jesus was the only good son. Because he was good, his death opened the door for us to receive status as a son of God. Jesus' good becomes ours and God sees us as he sees Jesus.

Remarkable! Knowing this, we are free to work for God out of love, not obligation. The difficult part is remembering this each and every day, and living life accordingly. I'll keep working on that attitude. How 'bout you?

What's In a Dream?/Go Deep

It's probably dangerous psychoanalyzing your own dreams.
Especially in a blog.

But, this is one I need to work through. I hope you can forgive the introspection. Maybe, though, you'll see yourself somewhere in the exchange.

Life's been busy in our household, it seems like, forever. But especially in recent years. There have been medical issues, a job change, and a basement refinish. Issues surrounding an elderly parent are always in the background these days. Our children are starting families of their own and we engage in those exciting changes. I started a mentoring blog.

Add to all that the normal, everyday emergencies that seem to buffet life, and it can be overwhelming. As I think through this dream, it's very reflective of certain parts of my life--a pressure-filled pace, a crowded scene, a lot of clutter, a frantic feeling, a sense of frustration at not being able to accomplish all that I wish.

But there's another side to this coin, and it's very shiny. If I'm busy, it's because I have a lot of opportunity. If there's pressure associated with work, it's balanced by the excitement of a challenging position. The problems inherent with family are countered by the absolute pleasures of loving relationships. A nice house brings with it chores. You get the idea.

Life IS busy. Managing your attitude about the busyness is every bit as important as managing THE busyness.

So for me, the crux of the issue is how I'm doing with my attitude in the face of the extreme activity. Let me think about it some more.

What's In a Dream?/Think About It

Help me with a dream.
I rarely remember my dreams. They disappear quickly as I slowly fight my way into consciousness in the mornings.

But this weekend, while attending a remarkable retreat, I woke up each morning to a different dream and remembered all three. Each one was different, yet each one followed a similar theme. I'll share the essentials of just the first one.

The scene was urban. Narrow streets were bordered by dark brick buildings that were about three or four stories high. Although the city had an industrial feel, it wasn't dirty. It felt busy, though. It was daylight.

I was lost, running through the streets. The feeling was frantic. I had someplace to go, somewhere I needed to be, but I couldn't quite find the correct route. I kept passing by the same scenes.

Several times I found myself inside an apartment on the first floor of one of the buildings. It was neat, but full of things and cluttered. The frantic feeling didn't go away. I had to leave to get somewhere important. I just didn't know where that was.

The dream ended abruptly. Tired and frustrated, I was back outside and chose to sit down on a small patch of grass to rest. But I sat in something wet. Turned out to be a pile left by a dog.

That's when I woke up. Wouldn't you?

This is the kind of dream that leaves you restless and unsatisfied. What does it mean? What do you think?