Unicorn (Unicorn@Indenial.com)
Tue, 28 Sep 1999 14:34:44 -0400
"The Blessing Tree"
I had gone into a supervisor's office to
talk about a couple of issues that needed
to be addressed. She, like all of the men
and women in her department, had been
through the proverbial 'ringer.' The stress
was so intense, one could almost taste it.
I had been assisting the department during
a crunch period of being very short-handed,
and was watching everyone get close to
burn-out. When I inquired about her state of
mind, she confessed that her home life was
almost non-existent, because she was
'zombie-ing through the evening'.
The next words out of her mouth
expressed a frustration of my own: "This
work is not my gift from G-d. My family is!"
I had heard of hanging all of one's problems
from the office on a "Trouble Tree" while
driving home, to be picked up on the way
back to the office in the morning, and for a
brief second thought about suggesting that
scenario.
But what came out was: "Why don't we do
something different? Let's have a Blessing
Tree. On the way home in the evening, we
could pull down a blessing to dwell on: a
character trait we adore in our spouse, a
particular reason we love them, the love they
or our children have for us" [the list could be
endless].
When I tried it on the way home that night, the
stress seemed to melt away. There was a
'spring in my step' and when I arrived, a smile
of joy and contentment was bubbling up from
within! For the first time in 2 weeks, I was
overjoyed to greet my wife and children!
The Blessing Tree could make a major
difference in your evenings, especially after
those REALLY tough days.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Reprinted with expressed permission.
Copyright 1999, John Sharrock, Louisiana
eplcts@juno.com
The dash in the name of G-d is inputted by
LadyHawke.
NOTE: If you're *dying* to know why I
don't spell out the name of the Lord,
please be assured that I do it in respect
and *not* because I think the name dirty
in any way. Since I do it for myself
rather than for someone else, the subject
is *not* open for discussion. For more
information, please go to
http://www.ladyhawk.com/jan9.html .
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