When life gets hard, many times my first reaction is to run. There’s something about the fight or flight response that, for me, always reverts to flight…at least initially. I tend to run, hide, or escape from the situation. What’s ironic is that this flight reaction is quite the opposite of my personality. But, I only fight for certain things.
This past week at work in a conversation with a coworker I was asked how I deal with stress. My response went something like this: “Well, for as long as I can remember I’ve always been a very busy person. So, when things get stressful it tends to not affect me all that much.” In response, my coworker frankly said, “It doesn’t sound like you deal with stress at all. You avoid it!” I translated this to run from, hide from, escape from. And, as much as I didn’t want to hear those words, my coworker was speaking honest, truthful words that penetrated my heart.
As I’ve thought about those words, “You avoid it!” it wasn’t long before I started to recognize other areas in my life where I’m avoiding the difficult things. Rather than fight, I choose the easier path: flight.
I’m finding that the reason I default to flight is because I don’t have the confidence to fight. I lack the confidence because I’m not placing my trust in the One who can give me strength and courage to stand up when things get hard, to push back when temptation rises, and to press on towards becoming a better person. A person who finds himself in Christ.
As I mentioned earlier this year, I created a list of goals that I wanted to accomplish. I guess my theme for the year is “Fight over Flight.” Each goal I’ve committed to will push me closer to fighting for the things I want in life, the things I may not be good at, or the things Christ wants of me.
Here’s my “Fight over Flight” list:
- Faith
- Freedom
- Friendship
- Four-by-Four Challenge
- Finances
- Fitness
- Fast Food
I’ll delve into each of these in the coming weeks. Until then…
- If you know me well (or are just outgoing), ask me questions about this list and hold me accountable to these goals.
- If you are of the praying persuasion I would greatly appreciate your prayers in the coming weeks and months. I’m challenging myself in ways I never have before.
- If you don’t know me, or aren’t big on prayer…well, really regardless of either, I’d challenge you to step out and share your story. It doesn’t have to be online, but we can all learn and grow from sharing life with others.
This Thing Called Life 