Episode 135 - Stay Safe

Working as an engineer in a hospital, PPE (personal protective equipment) is something I often have to wear, whether it's a face mask to prevent the spread of germs, safety boots to protect my toes from falling objects or UV glasses to protect my eyes from harmful light that they can't see. I'm pretty good at recognising what can hurt me physically and at taking measures to protect myself from possible harm. I wonder if I'm so good when it comes to dangers that aren't physical.

Whether its negative comments and other people's expectations that lower my self esteem, or worries and distractions that take my mind away from what I want to focus on, or even grudges and offence I hold that cause broken relationships, there are many dangers that my mind faces everyday that on the whole I often treat with a careless disregard. I wonder if it's a resignation to the inevitability of such things which cause me not to try to stop them and a bewilderment as to how to protect myself that causes me to ignore that there's even a potential problem at all. As I think about it now, I realise that the best thing I can do to protect myself is not to avoid the danger or to shield myself from it, but to look inside myself. True resilience to such things comes from really knowing myself, knowing who I want (and choose) to be, and accepting and being happy in those things. And for me, that comes from knowing God; knowing who God made me to be, knowing who I am in and through Him, and knowing that He loves me even when I fall short.