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The “Microwave Popcorn” Mentality
By KWiz | January 6, 2007
I had a craving for some popcorn this evening. So I popped some.
If we’re popcorn eaters, it is probably fair to say that many of us would purchase microwave instead of regular popcorn. The microwave variety is more convenient and it seems to take less time to prepare. Just throw it in the microwave for approximately 2-4 minutes (or hit the popcorn button on your wave machine) and be done with it.
Several weeks ago while making a grocery store run, I decided to buy a bag of regular kernel popcorn - the store brand, no less. It cost me 99 cents. My husband showed me how to pop it several years ago (I couldn’t remember how to pop it on the stove). Put a thin layer of vegetable oil in the bottom of a medium sized pot, pour the popcorn in the pot to cover the bottom, put a top on it, turn the flame on sort of high, and wait. When the kernels stop popping and you take off the top of the pot, you see beautifully popped popcorn with little to no scorching or burning! I recently put a twist on my preparation. After I put the corn in the pot, I put little dots of Country Crock on top of it to get that buttery flavor without the buttery mess. It took a little more time to prepare it this way, but it sure was worth the wait. I achieved a much better result. That popcorn was delicious!
Sometimes we want some change we’re seeking in our lives to come quickly. Let’s take weight loss, for example. I’ve gained 10 pounds over the past few months. I’d like to wake up one month from now and see that weight gone. Yet, I know that even if I lost that weight in one month, I’ll be more inclined to gain it back. We all know that sometimes significant changes need to be made in order to achieve weight loss, and usually gimmicks and quick fixes cannot be maintained. In fact, the American Heart Association stated, “Because most quick-weight-loss diets require drastic changes in eating patterns, you can’t stay on them for long.” So we gain the weight back, sometimes more than what we gained in the first place. Quick fixes usually don’t work, at least not permanently.
Let’s take another example. What about trying to control your emotions? Okay, what about my efforts to rid myself of gut emotional reactions arising from flying on autopilot? I’ll tell you what I used to do (I may be stepping on some toes here).
If you read the “About KWiz” page, you’ll discover I am a Christian. My husband and I are currently seeking a place to fellowship that doesn’t focus on getting its congregation emotionally worked up to think they’re experiencing God. I have been to churches and watched church services on TV whose pastors and teachers proclaim that if you just praise God a little louder, dance around a little more, speak in tongues and prophesy, send in $10 for a prayer cloth, anoint your head with oil three times a day, you will be healed of all of your ailments and woes.
Please understand, I am not saying I don’t advocate doing some of these things (except sending in $10 for a prayer cloth). In fact, I love praise and worship during church services. But I did most of what I indicated above, thinking that God was going to instantly heal me of my emotional baggage. And surely, after most church services, I left feeling good, knowing in my heart God had touched me in some way. Yet, deep down, my soul was still sick.
I have come to a different understanding of emotional and spiritual healing these days. God is still the source of healing for me. But God does not take a “microwave popcorn” approach (at least He hasn’t for me). As the Greek slave and fable author Aesop said in The Tortoise and the Hare, ”Slow and steady wins the race.” And for me and my emotional health comes in the form of being more attuned to my immediate circumstances and how I react to them.
For example, this morning, my husband and I were working in our office. Our 2-1/2 year old daughter loves and needs to be wherever we are. Even though her beautiful, new desk and chair set is in her room, she won’t use it if we can’t be with her. So she was right under us, wanting to sit in my lap or stand right in front of the keyboard. In the meantime, my husband was trying to troubleshoot our internet connection, and things weren’t going well at that moment. I kept telling my daughter that she couldn’t stand in front of the keyboard, so she started crying. I was trying to help my husband, but that wasn’t going very well. All this happened in the span of about 1-2 minutes.
I felt myself starting to get a little frazzled on the inside very quickly (if it seems to be a minor situation to you, you had to be there). Any other time, I’d feel like I was losing control and get defensive (that’s my autopilot), adding fuel to the fire. However, I felt myself starting to get upset and caught myself. I stopped talking. I took a deep breath. If I can recall, I think I even got up from the computer. And from there, the situation was diffused. My husband decided to rearrange the office to relocate my daughter’s desk and chair set (at least for the moment). And everything was okay. The day went quite smoothly.
It took a long time to get to that point. Nevertheless, God was instrumental in getting me there. He led me to books, prompted friends to call me when needed, and gave me a compassionate husband who has been patient with me to help see me through. But it hasn’t been a quick fix, as much as I’ve wanted it to be. It has been a slow process. Yet it sure felt good to have a different response and reap the benefits of that response today.
So for those of you who are seeking a change (which is what New Year’s resolutions are about, of course), it may not be helpful to seek the quick fix. Because while temporary relief may come and go, transformation achieved through effort and difficulty is lasting.
Time is a dressmaker, specializing in alterations. –Faith Baldwin
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Topics: Health and Wellness, Personal Development, Spiritual Growth |
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