It’s tempting to scratch that itch, isn’t it? What’s more tempting is to keep scratching that itch over and over again, as if it’s going to make it better. In fact, it makes it worse. In my family we call that “picking” at something, which generally leads to an open scab or sore.
At this point you may be thinking that this doesn’t sound like your typical New Year’s resolution blog. It isn’t. But I think it will motivate you none the less.
If you’ve ever watched free range chickens, you may have noticed that they keep their heads down for the most part, looking and foraging for food. In many cases they keep trotting with their heads down, pecking away.
If you are not familiar with chicken behavior, take a quick look here.
They don’t even look where they are going. Their pecking could lead them right up to the base of the Empire State building as long as a trail of chicken scratch led them to it!
So what is chicken scratch and what does that have to do with you, me and 2017? Ok, scratch is a mix of cracked grains. It usually consists of wheat, corn, oats, sunflower seeds, millet. etc. It is NOT complete nutrition.
So basically chicken scratch is not all that good for chickens, but they like it. I can tell you they love it and would keep eating all day if we threw it out there all day. It keeps them busy and in motion.
Are you eating chicken scratch?
Chicken scratch comes in many forms for humans:
- Worry is tasty treat for all of us; yet has no nutritional value for our minds.
- Busyness keeps us running in circles, thinking that activity is accomplishment.
- Pecking, poking and chattering about others deflects the need to work on our own issues.
My latest pallet knife painting “Mad Max with Poppies” encourages us to look at these things with a careful eye:
© Laura Gabel, “Mad Max with Poppies”. Acrylic on canvas, 8 x 10. $75.
So what “human chicken scratch” did you entertain last year? I encourage you to write down one area that:
- Is mindless, but makes you feel better. You love it.
- Often keeps you busy but isn’t good for you. You love it and hate it.
- Leads you in circles, keeping you from God’s desire for you.
For me the most damaging thing about “human chicken scratch” is it keeps my head down. It keeps me in the world racing in circles. I don’t have the perspective that God wants me to have. I am learning to step away from my “tasty treats” and frame a new life that keeps me looking up! Framing things God’s way makes things look and work better! “…while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.” 2 Corinthians 4:18 NKJV
So for 2017, I hope you’ll join me in not living like a foolish chicken!
photo credit www.crossrivermedia.com
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