Several snowstorms and rainy icy weather months can leave behind the bane of the city drivers; potholes. The remains from the melted snow run down deep between the small cracks of the pavement and freezes hard. Then the pressure from the frozen water loosens the pavement causing it to break easily.
At times you may find yourself zigzagging down the road because it is so difficult to avoid all the potholes left over from the Winter months. Potholes tend to get bigger over time due to heavy traffic and can be damaging to your car causing a variety of problems.
The hard bumps could cause broken ball joints, shocks, and/or struts. Small potholes may only cause minor damage to a vehicle, while the larger ones could actually cause accidents or severe injuries to drivers or passengers. Potholes are not just a nuisance; they interrupt our smooth drive along to our destination yet can be a real hazard to drivers.
Life itself has its own set of potholes and when we hit them, we are jarred, jerked and thrown out of position. Unfortunately, no matter how hard we try we can’t avoid all of life’s “potholes.” It is impossible to do so. Like the emotional pain in our lives, potholes slow us down and make us feel uncomfortable, and sometimes angry. When we hit them (potholes) our wheels of life may get knocked out of line, jarred, or fractured. Our tires may even get blown out to a point where we have to come to a complete stop. When this happens, we need to take time to re-think the situation. Though we may try to avoid all of the bumps in our lives some things are just beyond our control.
My analogy of comparing life with “potholes” is that both are equally disappointing and very annoying. You could just be driving/living life smoothly when all of a sudden, BANG! You hit a “pothole.” At this point, we can get angry and blame the situation on something or someone else or try to accept that this thing has happened and then try to create a solution to the problem. Anger and anxiety will only make the situation worse. We must attend to these painful potholes in our life. If left unattended they not only will affect you but they may break other people who pass over them which could lead to irreparable damages.
Sometimes it may not be that you cannot fill the painful potholes, it could just be that you just don’t know-how. Dealing with your pain is never easy but neither is allowing it to grow. My strategy for filling life’s potholes is to change the way you think about the things that are happening to you.
Trust God and call on Him during your brokenness. Pray for healing and understanding, and seek support groups. Sometimes talking to people who have experienced life such as yours can help with the healing. Another way to fill those potholes is to unlock our minds and fill them with courage, acceptance and resilience), then pave over them (gain control over our mindsets and store positive innermost thoughts inside).
Life is just one big road with a few unavoidable potholes in it. So, if you should happen to hit one of those bumps, just ask the Lord Jesus to take the wheel…
The Traveler Weekly 