Dr. Busch

Dr. Busch

Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Waiting for the Sunrise...

It is 2 am and I get the elbow and the whisper, "Doug, I think I heard something downstairs, go check it out!" So you get up and wander through the house checking every nook and cranny of the house, checking the pulses of all four of your kids, waking a perfectly comfortable dog and get a glass of milk before going upstairs to report, 'all is well.' 'Did you check the...' Dang it! Back you go and when you return guess who's asleep, not I said the fly! So you lay down, get all comfy with the pillows just right and lay there... wide awake. You try to think calming thoughts, create dream situations, and then the worry box get's tripped over in your brain and you spill it out all over and as you attempt to put everything in the right perspective at 2:38 am, it hits you, 'You've been asleep for a few hours and try as you might, you are going to toss and turn for the next two to three hours unlil it's twenty minutes before your alarm goes off and when it goes off you will be miserable. Have you ever had this happen, I have it often, I think it is mostly due to my ADHD brain that once you turn it on, 'Holy Crap, can you shut this thing off?' So I fell asleep to a great show I have been recording and watching occassionaly, 'Great Men who shaped America' (Wouldn't it be such an honor to one day be on that show?) It was discussing Carneige, JP Morgan and got to Edison. I like Edison, as what I learned when I read a book about him many years ago, he napped. When they were up against a big problem, the others would work to try to get the answer, he had a cot and he would take a little nap, and usually wake with the answer. I wish I could do that through the day (actually I tried to take little naps over lunch hours one time and I was worthless for the rest of the day). What it taught me is when inspiration shows up you best awake to capture it because it will be gone if you don't. When I get these mornings with my mind awake and my body trying to asleep, I default to letting the mind win. Taking control of this, your thoughts & your mind, can be one of the greatest challanges I think I have ever faced, and those who know me personally know I have faced some pretty daunting challanges in my few decades on the planet. The old adage, 'it is darkest just before sunrise,' I think is crap. It makes us feel better that there is hope on the horizon, but it does nothing to get us up and pull ourselves up by the boot straps and imagine and pursue the hope that is before us. My absolute favorite time of the day is when you see that purple/pink glow on the horizon as dusk begins to shine it's light. It tells me that today is here how did you prepare for me, are you ready for me, I'm here what are you going to do with me today? This can overwhelm most of us, but with some taking our thoughts into captivity we can make this work to our advantage. Yesturday I felt as if I didn't accomplish much, but I did get to spend a couple extra hours with three kids who stayed home because they were 'sick.' It's amazing how they recover when they realize that if they don't go to school, the time out in trick or treating won't happen if they are ill. Today I choose to be faithful to this day. Yesturday is behind me, I can do nothing to change it, but I can do something to change today. I choose to be faithful to this hour that was set aside for the task at hand. I choose to be faithful in this moment as I won't get another on just like this. Many may feel simular, but as Mark Twain wrote, 'A man can't step in the same river twice, by the time he tries again both the man and the river have changed.' I want to spend the next few blogs focusing on how to decide what to focus on and what does it mean to be 'faithful in the moment' I have to give Rod Loy props for turning me on to this phrase. It is a great way of looking at things we face. Today I will decide what is most essential in my life, make a list of the most essential things in my life and next time we will discuss what to do with that list. I leave you with a quote Paul who wrote a letter to some friends in Corinth many years ago, 'Casting down imaginations, I take every thought into captivity and make it obiedient" Until next time...