Old Scripts

Today we continue to look at how taking a "fearless moral inventory" is helpful during Lent. Until we come to terms with who we are and what we think and do that separates us from God and each other, we can't fully live the lives God intends for us.

Yesterday I mentioned that we all have old "scripts" in our minds, and that sometimes this interferes with us loving ourselves and others. This is often the most difficult part of taking a good look at ourselves. Some of us have scripts that are so powerful and so habitual that we can't really look at who we are, we just blindly accept what the script tells us. For example, I know a man who is intelligent, kind, and has great potential, but he made some serious mistakes in the past, and even as a small child his mother told him he was bad, and stupid, and selfish. Even though he's "learned" from his mistakes, he can't see past them and seems to review his old script, or self, in his mind. He still "sees" himself as that lost, destructive, mistake-making person who hurt his family and those he loved. He's in a sort of "arrested development" and it's holding him back from being the man he was designed by God to be.

I have those fights with myself too, but with different issues. We all do. Maybe you struggled with your weight as a child, or were a bed-wetter, or were bad in math, or someone told you once that you had no artistic ability, and you bought into that as your identity. Now, you almost feel as if you're "hiding" your true self from others, just pretending to be the "together, competent, professional, smart" or whatever other label you're assumed. Well maybe you really ARE that "together" person now. Maybe you need to let go of that old script that keeps you down.

There are some great therapies that can help you do this, and many have been helped through guided imagery and/or hypnosis, but you can start today, right now, by looking deeply into yourself and trying to identify those negative scripts you run in your head about yourself, and then finding some words of affirmation to counter them. One that I like to use is "God created me, and all of God's creation is good. I am a beautiful and loving part of God's creation." You come up with your own. Just remember to use it whenever you find yourself buying into the negative thoughts you have about yourself. Thoughts and words are powerful. Try to keep your thoughts and words positive and affirming, both to yourself and to others. Make this part of your Lenten practice. Try being only affirming and positive from now until Easter and I can almost guarantee it will change the way you interact with the world.

Tomorrow we take a different turn and discuss how to deal with those truly negative attributes and actions we have. What if your moral inventory reveals to you that you behave in ways that are hurtful to those around you, or even to yourself? What then?

Wishing you a blessed and holy Lent.