I posted this on my wall yesterday.
Why?
I woke up feeling dizzy but instead of going back to bed, I got up and did my usual routine. When Stephen woke up and realized I wasn’t feeling great he insisted on my going back to bed. I said I was fine...
And then my mind flashed back to Sunday. I had shared at a talk that one of my children scraped their knees really bad this winter. Their knees were bleeding and purple...but they insisted they were “fine.” 🙃They weren’t fine! I used this story to encourage the people listening that it’s okay to not be okay.
Also, another story I shared was one I heard last week by an inspiration guy, @bobgoff. He shared in the sermon I was listening to how he gave a sermon one day about practicing immense patience. The next day when he went to return his rental car the person was v-e-r-y s-l-o-w. By the time the person got to him, he’d missed his flight. Yet when the rental car person said goodbye to him he also said, “great sermon yesterday.” He has taken his message about immense patience and although tempted to lose it in the rental car person, he chose to live out immense patience towards him💝
When I said “I’m fine” to Stephen in a flash I heard my child say they were fine when they were not and I saw that I was not practicing what I preached. I was not okay.
Humbled, I walked myself back to bed and I wrote myself this note.
It’s okay to not be okay.
I share this with you in case you need permission, as I guess I did, to not be okay. And maybe like me yesterday, you too need to spend the day in bed, or doing whatever you need to do to move towards healing.
I invite you to join me to....
Pause. Breathe. Pray.
May we know it’s okay to not be okay and may we also set the example to those who are watching and listening to us that it’s okay for them to not be okay too and to do what is needed to move towards healing.
With love and hope,
Shawn
P.S. The rest helped and I am truly okay today