There's an elephant in the room. I don't know how it got there without being noticed or invited, but it did. It must've been small enough to enter through the front door but perhaps while no one was looking, he was eating off of plates left unattended, candy bowls left unguarded and and leftover cookies on a platter. He's grown so big, he can't leave the same way he entered.
I once had an elephant in the room that even a mouse couldn't send him running. That elephant was a person that I trusted as a friend. We were as close as two sisters yet, the elephant crept in. It started when she began to tell hurtful jokes. The elephant grew. Then she turned the conversations into opportunities to put me down, while lifting herself up. The elephant plumped up some more. I cringed my way through conversations with her and avoided confrontations with her. Finally, the elephant became destructive enough that I knew it had to leave. I let her know that something had changed in our friendship. I no longer felt that she valued it the same way that I did. I ended it with, "I hope you find the kind of friendship you want and deserve." The air cleared that day as the elephant left the room.
The problem with elephants in the room is that they are common. Some start out by holding back the honest truth in a relationship. "I really don't like the way he dresses.""I think he's cheating on me but maybe if I change, he will too."We have nothing in common but I refuse to hurt her feelings." So we go along with it, hoping that the elephant will shrink before our very eyes yet, it becomes an even bigger elephant in the room.
Elephants are everywhere! I have seen elephants in church, at weddings and funerals. I have seen them at family get togethers and the workplace and parties. Raising teens, there are plenty of elephants in the room. So much to say but not enough words to say it or maybe it's fear...plain ol fear that keeps that elephant alive.
I am determined to squash the elephant in the room by feeling the fear and doing it any way. Speaking what's on my mind and my heart. This may be the only time that I have to make that elephant disappear.
By the way, how do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.
Is there an elephant in your room?
There
I once had an elephant in the room that even a mouse couldn't send him running. That elephant was a person that I trusted as a friend. We were as close as two sisters yet, the elephant crept in. It started when she began to tell hurtful jokes. The elephant grew. Then she turned the conversations into opportunities to put me down, while lifting herself up. The elephant plumped up some more. I cringed my way through conversations with her and avoided confrontations with her. Finally, the elephant became destructive enough that I knew it had to leave. I let her know that something had changed in our friendship. I no longer felt that she valued it the same way that I did. I ended it with, "I hope you find the kind of friendship you want and deserve." The air cleared that day as the elephant left the room.
The problem with elephants in the room is that they are common. Some start out by holding back the honest truth in a relationship. "I really don't like the way he dresses.""I think he's cheating on me but maybe if I change, he will too."We have nothing in common but I refuse to hurt her feelings." So we go along with it, hoping that the elephant will shrink before our very eyes yet, it becomes an even bigger elephant in the room.
Elephants are everywhere! I have seen elephants in church, at weddings and funerals. I have seen them at family get togethers and the workplace and parties. Raising teens, there are plenty of elephants in the room. So much to say but not enough words to say it or maybe it's fear...plain ol fear that keeps that elephant alive.
I am determined to squash the elephant in the room by feeling the fear and doing it any way. Speaking what's on my mind and my heart. This may be the only time that I have to make that elephant disappear.
By the way, how do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.
Is there an elephant in your room?
There
