All or Nothing Thinking
 

All or Nothing Thinking

Ecclesiastes 9 “Both good and bad things happen to everyone” (NCV).

I was tired after an extra-long work day, but my husband surprised me and had dinner on the table when I got home. We dined by candlelight. I rested on the sofa while he cleaned up. We watched a romantic movie. It was a relaxing, recuperating evening. But then it happened. The phone rang. In the rush to answer it, my husband knocked over a burning candle. It flew through the air, hitting the grand piano before it landed on the carpet. Huge globs of candle wax melted into the crevices of the piano and fibers of the plush carpet. We spent two hours cleaning up the mess. “How stupid!” he muttered.

But inside I smiled. “I don’t buy that any more,” I thought. “It was an unfortunate thing to happen, but no-one or no-thing is stupid because of it. Joy and fun can mix with mistakes and disappointment. A spilled candle mess need not wipe out the joy of the previous moments.”

Sometimes we have all or nothing thinking. Either “everything is wonderful and perfect” or “all is botched up and disastrous.” But imperfection and excellence (or good-enough) can co-exist. Learning to live with that reality will result in a more peaceful and accepting life.

Lord, dissolve my all or nothing thinking.
Help me to accept the realities of life’s inconsistencies.

Joan C. Webb