I was recently talking with a friend about this month’s spiritual ponderings topic about Toxic behaviors.  He responded to me by quoting Martin Luther King Jr: “Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into friend.”  I immediately knew that my friend was on to something.  Love is wanting what is best for another person even if it requires a sacrifice on my part and Jesus commands us to love ourselves within the context of the Law of Love.  Improving our lives by making the sacrifices necessary to overcome these toxic behaviors should therefore be an important part of the life of every Christian.  Two more toxic behaviors to confront, remember the quotes from the handout are in bold and my commentary is in regular font.

I love the movie Star Wars: Empire Strikes Backs for many reasons.  The scenes in which Yoda teaches Luke about the ways of the Force, I find personally fool of wisdom.  For example at one point in the movie, Yoda places a huge task before Luke and even before Luke makes an effort he resigns himself to defeat to which Yoda quickly replies ““Do. Or do not. There is no try.”  Luke, convinced that the task before him is impossible makes a half-hearted attempt.  He is then amazed when Yoda is able to complete the task: This is Yoda being brutally honest with Luke, who breathlessly says, “I don’t believe it,” after his Master raises an X-wing from the Dagobah swamp. It’s a definitive statement that comes from Yoda’s years and years of experience as a Jedi and a teacher, and it cuts through both to Luke and the audience. This little scene from the movie demonstrates the power of negative thinking.  (Quotes from my counseling handout will be in bold and my commentary will be in regular font)  

Growing up, I was often bullied by others.  No one should ever be bullied, I look back upon that time and see that I often did not help the situation by the ways I acted either.  Sometimes, I made myself a target.  For example there was a period in my life in which I tried to get others to like me by exaggerating my accomplishments.  Sadly my efforts to impress my peers made me more of a target.  When I finally stopped this behavior of telling tall tales in order to impress people; I found that fewer people would pick on me and I was actually beginning to make more friends.   As we continue to explore the idea of toxic behaviors I remind you that quotes from the handout will be in bold and my commentary is in plain text. 

Most people that know me or who have heard me speak, know that throughout my life I have struggled with depression.  It is a part of my life that, thanks to some great counselors, I have learned to manage and control.  In many ways, I look back upon my battle with depression and time in counseling as a gift because the experiences have given me a greater self-awareness and this has allowed me to help others when they come to me with a variety of different issues that are bothering them.