(This has always been one of my favorite poems. PR)
So what do you do when the person you’ve always thought you were (hobgoblin… very frightening… alarming) isn’t who you really are (“You’re cunning… as you can be”)? Here are some ideas:
Feel your emotions. (“You think I’m funny? I don’t like that!”) This sort of revelation can hurt. But you don’t have to go it alone:
The Lord is close to those whose hearts have been broken.
He saves those whose spirits have been crushed.
Psalm 34:18 New International Reader’s Version
Consider the new information. (“the goblin stood there all that day”) Look at it to see if it really fits you.
My dear friends, don’t believe everything you hear.
Carefully weigh and examine what people tell you.
Not everyone who talks about God comes from God.
1 John 4:1a The Message
Talk it over with a friend. (A beetle came by and “well?” it said.) Better still, talk it over with God.
O Lord, listen to my cry; give me the discerning mind you promised.
Psalm 119:169 New Living Translation
Accept the truth. (“For I am funny,” He said to it. “I thought I was alarming, and I’m not a bit.”) Now you can begin to look forward.
You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
John 8:32 Contemporary English Version
Redefine yourself. (“If I’m amusing, he said to himself…”)
We change our behavior when the pain of staying the same
becomes greater than the pain of changing.
Consequences give us the pain that motivates us to change.
Henry Cloud
Make a plan. (“I won’t be a goblin, I’ll be an elf!”)
Realize it’s never too late to reinvent yourself.
Let go of the past.
Learn from past mistakes
Replace negative thoughts with positive ones.
Stop worrying about others’ opinions.
Follow through. (“So the little green goblin became an elf.”)
Enjoy. (And he dances all day, and he likes himself.)
Popularity is when other people like you.
Happiness is when you like yourself.
Mike Murdock