The last two days I have needed every Truth Tool I know of. It started last night when I dropped a large glass, bottle of oil on my toe. Immediately it began to turn black and throb, but then it started to shot pain up my foot and let so that when I’d start to drift off to sleep another stab of pain would wake me up. This morning the toe and nail are totally black and it is so swollen the skin is stretched as tight as it can get. There was only one pair of shoes I could get on, so I’m wearing those. I got to work and went to take out my flash drive to prepare for class and discovered it was gone. I must have left it in the classroom yesterday so I called and searched several lost-and-found locations only to come up empty handed. I’m still praying it turns up because I have all my PowerPoints for the two classes I am teaching this semester on it and a lot of other important things. But when I couldn’t find it I had to start all over making slides and preparing to teach in when was by then forty-five minutes.
There were several other things that I won’t bore you with, but while all this was happening I kept reminding myself that if I slipped into the Pit of Illusion, I would not have the help I needed from the Spirit to reconstruct the lessons or to teach the classes. So I kept Anchoring in the present—refusing to let the story of how stupid I’d been to drop the bottle and forget my flash drive cause static in my mind.
I am happy to report that it worked. I am calm and collected. I have taught my first class and am redoing the slides for the second class.
Truth Tools work! I refuse to let this vex or stress me. I’m staying in the Realm of Truth and receiving lots of help to make up for my mistakes.
I’d love it if you’d share your experiences with Living in Truth. Just leave a comment or email me at smillsjohnson at gmail.com
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4 comments:
I sure hope your foot gets feeling better and that you find your flash drive. Thanks for the good example and good luck with your classes. :)
I've been reading through your Truth Tools posts this afternoon. I'm currently 11 weeks pregnant and confined to bed, hooked up to an IV and a medicine pump, and still feeling terrible. It's my fifth baby, and this is new territory. As the days and weeks drag on, I am battling what you call the Pit. So yesterday I printed photos of my children as infants and a bunch of motivational quotes (and hung them on my bedroom wall) to focus on instead of the slowly ticking clock. I'm using distraction to get through the days, and today I took a lovely walk (IV pole and all). As a home care nurse was starting another painful IV this afternoon, I focused on a picture of the Savior. I have to constantly redirect my thoughts, and sometimes I just cry, but as I read your posts today I realized I'm doing a lot of the same things you do to get through the hard times.
I am fighting for legislation that will help strengthen families in Utah and against legislation that will harm and weaken families. There are often setbacks which include what I judge to be evil and self-motivated action on the part of 'good church members and long time politicians', as well as the innocently deceived who push in what I think is the wrong direction. So, truth tools, things are just as they are meant to be, all set backs are just temporary (Heavenly Father wins in the end), challenges are just opportunities to educate others, work hard (which is always good for the soul), and develope Christlike characteristics, such as patience, stronger faith, more charity, etc...
Next time you drop something on your toe, heat a needle over a candle till its red hot. Then just touch the point to the blackened area. It will more or less "melt" into the nail and release the pressure underneath. Be prepared for blood! But the relief is instantaneous. This was recommended to us by a doctor friend after our 2-year-old grandson dropped an unopened can of soda on his toe.
Thanks for the wonderful words of inspiration. I've been fighting demons for a couple of weeks now. Back on my meds regularly, which is helping.
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