The Graceline

When elephants are just babies, trainers tie the end of a rope around one of their ankles and attach the other end to a huge tent peg. The baby tries and tries to get away but to no avail. Restriction and captivity become a given. Eventually, he ceases to make any attempt to escape and accepts his lot in life.
Over time the “tiny” elephant grows into a mammoth creature with enough power to snap the rope with a single twitch of his mighty leg. However, because he still believes he can't get away, he never even tries. He has grown tremendously in every aspect but is still held hostage by what he wrongly believes to be true.
“Stinking thinking” is not unique to elephants. Fleas suffer the same affliction. If you put some fleas in a mason jar, they will jump up trying to escape. Repeatedly they bang their heads on the lid until they also ingrain the fatal thought pattern. They learn how high to jump before they reach the lid in order to avoid a headache. That height becomes their “terminal” altitude. Terminal in more ways than one. They believe they cannot jump any higher without painful consequences. Having “trained” the fleas to live within limits, you can take the lid off and they will never jump out. They live in captivity while having everything they need to escape to freedom.
Growing up, I was a pretty good athlete, but I didn't think I was good. As a quarterback, I could throw the ball where it needed to be thrown. I would hear commentators talk about the talent it took for great quarterbacks to throw the ball that way, and I took it for granted that anybody could do it. I believed everybody had more talent, more intelligence, more gifts, more everything than me.
Like the elephant and the fleas, I never took risks. I feared failure. I believed failure meant you were a terrible person. I avoided trying anything that might draw criticism. And if I did try, I overachieved because, to me, success or failure was a matter of life or death. I did do a lot of things people thought I should do because success brought the blessing of approval, appreciation and acceptance. Nevertheless, I never enjoyed much of anything I ever did. I was always too afraid to let go of my worries and just live life come what may.

I'm older now. Much older. To be politically correct (I hate the term by the way), I am chronologically gifted. They say that experience is the comb you get when you are bald. But listen to me, you are never to old to enjoy your second-childhood, or your first one if you never had the chance to enjoy it. Here's what Papa is teaching me. Who said you can't teach an old dog new tricks?

God has given us everything we need for life and godliness thru our Lord Jesus (2 Peter 1:3). Jesus said, Himself, that the reason He came to earth was to give us life and life more abundantly (John 10:10). So we make a few mistakes. God knows we are not going to get it right all the time. He is good with that. "As a father has compassion for his children, so the Lord has compassion for those who fear him. He certainly knows what we are made of. He bears in mind that we are dust" (Psalm 103:13-14 GWT).

God knows that we learn how to trust and depend upon Him by making mistakes, not being perfect. We have to learn what works and what doesn't work in life. That lesson is only learned by living. Nobody ever learned to swim without getting wet. You just have to dive in. Sure you might get some water up your nose, but swimming is a lot of fun. And knowing how to swim could save you life if you happen to fall in over your head which is where I find myself quite a lot.

What is keeping you from enjoying the abundant life? Whatever it is, it inevitably has to do with your attitude. Life is what you make it. When life hands you lemons, you can pucker up and make an ugly face, or you can make lemmonade. You can light a candle, or you can curse the darkness. The choice is up to you. You can do all things thru Christ Who strengthens you. No, you can't jump over the moon, or climb Mount Everest in street shoes and gym shorts, but you can live and enjoy the life God gave to YOU. That is why he gave it to you. Go live and quit worrying about what people think. They are just as messed up as you are, and Papa loves them just as much as He loves you. They have a right to be wrong, too.

One of my favorites country/pop singers is Roger Miller, another one of my chronologically gifted comrades. One of his songs goes something like this:

Oh, you can't roller skate in a buffalo herd. You can't go fishing in a watermelon patch. You can't go swimming in a baseball pool. But you can be happy if you've a mind to. All you gotta do is put your mind to it. Knuckle down. Buckle down. Do it! Do it! Do it!

Happiness is a choice, and you are the only one choosing for YOU.