The purple elephant in the middle of the room

Denial is like the purple elephant in the middle of the room that everyone is pretending doesn't exist. We used to say that back when I was part of our church's Celebrate Recovery group. At first, it sounds so crazy but then you realize how true it is. How often do we pretend that there is not a problem when there are obvious signs that there are? I know even I am guilty of not seeing things I don't want to see or not dealing with things I don't want to deal with. It's part of what has kept me from dealing with some of the struggles in my life. I haven't felt free to express how I feel. Instead you have to keep up an image. Why? To look good but since looks don't really matter....or shouldn't...why do that?

I am done with that. I am not going to sit quietly anymore when I am upset. I am going to tell someone. I am not going to be a victim. I will share what has happened to me and I will do something about it so that I am not keeping that hurt inside. My sister, Brittany, put it so well. She said I try to be such a joyful person but I am just keeping the hurt inside because I don't feel like complaining. It's totally true. I don't want to be negative. Sometimes I know how to share but very few people I feel like are comfortable with listening to the hard stuff.

Anyhow, a purple elephant's pretty hard to miss. Why not take a stroll over and show that elephant the way to the door. He's not going to walk out on his own so stop pretending he's not there and make space for something else in your life.

~Shannon