If It looks Like a Skunk, And It Smells Like A Skunk…

It just might not be a skunk. Don't assume too quickly. It's time to take your eyes off how things look; from way it feels; what it sounds like; what it smells like; what it tastes like; because that's source of your pressure.

Listen to this: Reality might be a fact; but, it's not always truth! If it looks bad, that's a fact. If news you receive turns your face as white as a sheet, that's a fact. But, those things are not always eternal truth.

Remember this: truth never changes. Facts are subject to change. And, change is one thing we can always depend on. To illustrate my point: if you are still alive, then not one "fact" you've ever faced, that you thought was going to kill you, has yet!

You see, in heat of battle pressure that you're feeling is caused by looking at, feeling, acknowledging, and sensing pressure of circumstances in your emotions. You are thinking about and worrying about problem . And, again, that's not your problem.

Bending Over Backwards!

If you could make problem go away, you would, wouldn't you? At present moment let's assume you can't make problem go away. Is there anything you can do? Well, let's see. You can conjure up all kinds of doo-doo in your mind that would make Freddie Kruger look harmless.

You could spend then next forty years holding resentment and bitterness, because of terrible things that happened to you, till you've got one foot in grave.

But, obviously those things are not in your best interest. You could yell at your spouse and kick your cat. But, that really won't help either. The healthiest thing you can do is separate pressure from problem. I.e. circumstances.

If problem won't go away immediately, don't let problem push your emotions around. Now, sometimes this takes some practice; because our emotions are affected by circumstances. But, that's not where rub is.

Calm Before The Storm!

The intensity of our emotions is affected by severity of circumstances. Pay attention to your emotions. Notice when something minor happens how it has a minor effect on your emotions.

Notice when something major happens how it makes your emotions send shivers down your spine. The severity of problem has a tendency to make us feel either able to handle it or like taking a long walk off a short pier.

Personally, I believe this is for our testing. If everything we faced in life were simple, then we would develop a god like attitude of invincibility. If you never felt helpless in anything think about how you would esteem yourself.

A little humility is not all that bad. What is bad, is our emotions turning us into a Zombie; creating enough fear that our emotions are up and down like a toilet seat at a mixed party. Every time that happens, it makes us less effective for next test.

“Hey!” shouts Conway Twitty, beginning that great C&W classic, “Louisiana Woman, Mississippi Man.”

Lo-retta Lynn joins right in, every bit his equal, “Louisiana woman, Mississippi man, We get together every time we can, The Mississippi River can’t keep us apart.” Then Conway, “There’s too much love in this Mississippi heart,” then Loretta, “Too much love in this Louisiana heart.”

Brain stem? Limbic brain? Yes! And ain’t it grand? Someone’s about to do something impossible.

Obstacles will need to be overcome. There could be problems, oh yes, because, sings that Mississippi man:

See alligator all a- waitin’ nearby Sooner or later, they know I’m gonna try When she wave from bank Don’t you know I know It’s a-goodbye fishin’ line, see you while ago. With a Louisiana woman waiting on other side The Mississippi River don’t look so wide.

Don’t you love that “goodbye fishin’ line, see you while ago”? What will propel him forward on this dangerous mission? Don’t underestimate that “wave from bank.”

The chorus comes in every time to remind us -