One day, my son brought a gerbil home to live with us. We put it in a cage. Some time later, the gerbil escaped. For the next six months, the animal ran frightened and wild through the house. So did weāchasing it.
āThere it is. Get it!ā weād scream, each time someone spotted the gerbil. I, or my son, would throw down whatever we were working on, race across the house, and lunge at the animal hoping to catch it.
I worried about it, even when we didnāt see it. āThis isnāt right,ā Iād think. āI canāt have a gerbil running loose in the house. Weāve got to catch it. Weāve got to do something.ā
A small animal, the size of a mouse had the entire household in a tizzy.
One day, while sitting in the living room, I watched the animal scurry across the hallway. In a frenzy, I started to lunge at it, as I usually did, then I stopped myself.
No, I said. Iām all done. If that animal wants to live in the nooks and crannies of this house, Iām going to let it. Iām done worrying about it. Iām done chasing it. Itās an irregular circumstance, but thatās just the way itās going to have to be.
I let the gerbil run past without reacting. I felt slightly uncomfortable with my new reactionānot reactingābut I stuck to it anyway.
I got more comfortable with my new reactionānot reacting. Before long, I became downright peaceful with the situation. I had stopped fighting the gerbil. One afternoon, only weeks after I started practicing my new attitude, the gerbil ran by me, as it had so many times, and I barely glanced at it. The animal stopped in its tracks, turned around, and looked at me. I started to lunge at it. It started to run away. I relaxed.
āFine,ā I said. āDo what you want.ā And I meant it.
One hour later, the gerbil came and stood by me, and waited. I gently picked it up and placed it in its cage, where it has lived happily ever since. The moral of the story? Donāt lunge at the gerbil. Heās already frightened, and chasing him just scares him more and makes us crazy.
Detachment works.
Today, I will be comfortable with my new reactionānot reacting. I will feel at peace.
Quoted from the book Language of Letting Go by Melody Beattie.
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Dr Sherry Baker Christian Counselor and Christian Life Coach
“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” Philippians 4:13