As Much Grace As I Can Get....

Have you ever had one of those moments when someone says something to you and instead of just reacting to the situation at hand you find yourself overwhelmed by a barrage of feelings...some from the past and some from the present(and feeling completely overwhelmed by it all)?

It happened to me yesterday.  It made me want to just walk away from the whole situation as if it didn't exist.    Sometimes sticking my head in the sand seems like a really good thing!

Since I know avoiding problems never works...if you don't deal with your issues then your issues will deal with you...it has been necessary for me to stop the internal emotional geyser that is bubbling up and threatening to erupt by attempting to work through the feelings.

Here's my emotional to-do list:

Step 1:  Deep breath and pray to see the situation in the way God sees the situation.
Step 2:  Keep the focus on the present situation and separate myself from the past similar feelings that are trying to static cling to the issue at hand.(So.not.easy!)

note:  What are static cling emotions?  If you have unresolved feelings from the past, these same feelings and memories will rear their ugly heads when a similar feeling/situation happens in the present...like the way everything sticks to clothing with static cling.  Dealing with past and present emotions makes everything even more overwhelming.

Step 3:  Talk about my feelings.(Not to every single person I come into contact with b/c that just feeds the situation instead of letting me work through it...though initially that can feel like the right idea.  My go to is always Jay...and then sometimes a close friend, too.  A woman's perspective can be a good thing!)
Step 4:  Be patient.  Let the initial extreme emotions settle a little so that I can look at the situation rationally and figure out the steps I can physically do to solve the problem and who I can ask for help in completing those steps if needed.
Step 5:  While working out the present problem ask God to show me why those past emotions affect me so much and pray for healing so that I can be stronger in the future.  Let's face it, issues always arise in life....but I want to be able to only have to deal with what's in front of me, and not all kinds of "static cling" emotions.  Again, not easy, but who really wants to carry around excess baggage?  Way too tiring!
Step 6:  Do my part to resolve the present situation and wait on God(being patient is hard, too!!!) to show me the truth of the past so I can let go and give Him those crappy emotions/ideas I've carried around for too long.  Then there's more room in me for His grace.

I don't know about you, but I could definitely use as much grace as I can get!

(Just an FYI...I'm on Step 4 and hope to be on Step 5 by the end of the day....)

Linking up today with intentionalme.com and