Posts Tagged: etiquette

“Of Self-Control and Spontaneity”

On May 6, 2019 by Dteb With 0 Comments - down to earth believer

My affirmation for the week is as follows:

“Today, by God’s grace and through God’s empowerment, I am welcoming the gift of self-control.  I am consistently using that gift for my own well-being, the well-being of others, and for the glory of God.”

My sponsor responded with a thought-provoking, one line reply: “Self control can be spontaneous or a good game plan.”

My reply to my sponsor was as follows:

“That is a good thought, and provokes other good thoughts in my own noggin.

I think that, if self-control is my game plan, and if I work that game plan, then I am positioning myself to be spontaneous.

My wife is an excellent example of that to me.  She is one of the most organized, proactive people I’ve ever known.  She is also one of the most spontaneous and free-spirited people I’ve ever known.

I used to think that was a strange combination.  Now, it makes perfect sense to me.”

I once knew a lady who trained girls—and some courageous boys—in the art of etiquette and the social graces.  I had never been that interested in etiquette.  I thought it was for sissies and the “refined.”  I didn’t want to be a sissy, and I flat-out wasn’t refined.

I once confessed to the lady who trained these young people that I had never really seen the point of training in etiquette.  Now that I look back on it, I realize that I was being very insensitive at that point.  (If someone said to me, “I don’t see the point of biblical scholarship,” those would be fightin’ words.)

She was very gracious in her response, and did not answer a fool according to his folly.

“If you are at a formal dinner, and you don’t have to think about which fork to use for your salad, that frees you up to relax and have a good conversation with your companions.”

Self-control is indeed a good game plan for getting things done.  It is also a good virtue to cultivate if I want to practice the fine art of spontaneity!

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