Keeping Perspective

NaBloPoMo Prompt: What helps you keep thoughts in perspective so they don't overwhelm you?


I work on this every day. Yesterday I was having a conversation with my synod bishop and I felt my anxiety rising. 

I stopped and breathed deeply. I made sure my feet were set firmly on the floor and I spread my toes out in my shoes. I held my arms out slightly with my hands out at my sides and shook them as though I was shaking off water droplets. 

Grace in, I breathed, anxiety out. Christ in, fear out. Grace in, savior complex out. 

I announced to myself (and the bishop): "This [problem] isn't mine to save. I don't save. I'm a pastor, not a savior. This isn't mine to save."

In any situation, defining my role helps me keep perspective. 

I'm the parent. I'm the sister. I'm the wife. I'm the shopper. I'm the friend. I'm the neighbor. 

There's no time when my identity to a situation is: I'm the savior. 

Thanks be to God.


It takes a while to develop this practice and way of thinking. 
If you struggle with perspective, try thinking, drawing, writing, saying out loud: 
In this situation, I am the… 
This is what my job is…
Others may want me to…, but I am not the…
I do not save. I am the…