HALT

Ask yourself

Here is a mind cue for you, a reminder to HALT, meaning to stop. Taking the individual letters, ask yourself H, am I hunger, A, am I angry, L, am I lonely, and T, am I tired? 

I have heard this idea before. Checking with yourself before reacting or, in the event that you already have, when a reaction to circumstances seems extreme, and out of whack with the naturally calm and cool headed you that you normally enjoy (is this true dear reader, are you naturally calm and cool: does this not depend on what you are facing?) 

Emotionally engaged without becoming enraged

I grin as I type, because I have learned it is rare to have this disposition naturally, it is the gift of the very few. Most of us have to diligently invest time, effort and sometimes even money, to learn the skills of staying emotionally engaged without becoming enraged.

Tirade

Two days ago, I wrote about pain or peace, the devil or your Daddy, and how staying peaceful in all circumstances is possible. Yesterday, however, I did not HALT, I did not check in to see if I was hungry, angry, lonely or tired, before I gave myself permission to a tirade, after hearing what I believed was unacceptable choices. 

Stuff of greatness

I grin again, right here, knowing as you read that perhaps, you have done the same, maybe even as recently as today? Here is my point. We are living is these things called bodies, and they need the stuff of greatness poured into them, in order for us to be able to perform optimally.

Friendly functioning
Let me get real. I need sleep, then I need coffee and some breakfast, along with other creature comforts, in order to focus on my work, my relationships, my purpose for being in this world, and you need these too! 

The devil knows

Now, without these items in place, we are subject to hunger, anger, loneliness and being tired. We are also subject to our emotions taking over our mouths, while our minds whirl to come up with more proofs and accusations, in order to justify our verbal rampages. We are spirit living in flesh and by God, the devil knows this, and he will, and does, capitalize on our weakness, our emotional instability, our exhaustion and lastly, he works to isolate us, keep us separated and apart from others, to increase our feeling of loneliness. He is very good at his job.

God is the great reconciler
So, here is the deal. God is the great reconciler. You may very well have been hungry, angry, lonely or tired yesterday, and it showed up in a damaging way in your relationships. This, my human friend, happens to the best of us, no matter our intentions to "be good", next time. 

In our here and now, we get to decide to choose healing, to choose extending grace, to choose to listen, and perhaps even tell someone we are sorry for not HALTing and hearing, the last time we spoke.

Grin

Choose reconciliation: for you, for them... for Love