There was another show on today about de-cluttering your life. I was taking a break, and flipping through the gazillion channels when I landed on it. I THOUGHT it might make a good choice for relaxing and letting my mind recharge. Seeing others motivated is a great motivator for me.

I was enjoying the show quite a bit and even making a few comments to the TV. My mind was on its way to recharging and my list of how to make the experiences of the show a reality in my life was growing. From the other room my husband starts yelling his own Amens.

Violence is not normally my first response to these situations, but I admit I wanted to throw a shoe at his head. Our home is not perfect, but it is a far cry from some of these homes that are featured on the shows.

It was time for me to defend myself. I was about to start listing all the wonderful accomplishments I had made over the last few years - anything to justify my feelings for my husband’s attitude. Before the words came out of my mouth, I realized that if I was defensive about his comments then there must be some truth hiding in there somewhere.

Words without merit do not stick. It is the words with the hint of truth that cause me so much pain. I knew I could do more – I could be doing more at that moment instead of watching others do more. My husband was right, but that did not make his comments right.

His words hurt. I now had the choice to allow those words to tear me down or to choose to take those words constructively and push myself to be more. Any time I react to the comments or actions of another person then I give that person control. I was determined to take control from my husband.

It is not right when someone points out my faults, particularly when that person is not perfect. It is not fair that I am struggling to make changes in my actions, thoughts and habits and others only see my past or the negatives that still exist.

There are a lot of things that a situation may be, but the truth is that “it just does not matter”. It all comes back to me. I have to do what I know to do AND any time I allow people or situations (or television shows) to dictate my actions or attitude then I also allow them to suck my energy away and to ultimately determine my path.

I can only do what I can do and I cannot do any more than that. As long as I am doing then the words will not matter.

You will be happy to know that I did not throw a shoe at my husband’s head. He did not even have to sleep on the couch. Instead, I chose to get up and start back pursuing my purpose with passion.