I recently experienced what could only be described as a rough day. The type we could refer to as a straight up ‘bad day’. A gethsemane day even. I now refer to these days however, as ‘character building’ days. In sharing my day with a friend of mine, she left me with these words - “The olive produces oil when it’s pressed. Tap into it”.
Her words sent me back to my time spent under olive trees in Jerusalem and as I reflected on it, I was reminded of the following:
So often we are quick to succumb to the pressures we face. Our mental inclination is towards pessimism. We set the negative thought, then we wallow in it. Our mood changes and this directly impacts the results we get. I’ve been there.
Once we begin to shift our mind to see the positive in every situation, we begin to understand that no day is necessarily ‘bad’. When we choose to focus on the lessons in our not-so-pleasant experiences of the day, it’s easier to identify what it is teaching us for a better tomorrow.
The law of polarity is enshrined in our universe, and it clearly states that everything has an opposite. There can be no up without a down, no inside without an outside, and no hot without cold. In the same way, if we can think of why our day is a total write-off, we can certainly think of why our day has been good, and how its lessons will benefit us. The choice is ours.
Sometimes we’re so close to the point at which our scale will tip for the better. All we need to do is hold on some more, push a bit harder, work a little longer, and dig a bit deeper. When we’re under stress we tend to feel like giving up; but it’s often the moment that precedes our greatness. If you’re thinking that you can’t go any further, know that your reserves are there waiting on you to tap into it.
Life includes Gethsemane experiences. Whether we like it or not, at some point in our lives our Gethsemane days will come. The name itself derives from the Aramaic word gat semãnê, which means 'olive press'. So I leave you with this reminder - it’s when the olive is pressed that the oil is produced. The challenge lies in how we face the pressure.
Face it with courage Face it with faith over fear Face it with an expectation of blessing Face it with belief over failure Face it with strength Face it with love