{"id":533,"date":"2019-01-02T07:47:47","date_gmt":"2019-01-02T13:47:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wandertruenorth.com\/?p=533"},"modified":"2019-01-02T07:47:59","modified_gmt":"2019-01-02T13:47:59","slug":"a-new-year-a-challenge-to-lobsters-everywhere","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wandertruenorth.com\/?p=533","title":{"rendered":"A New Year – A Challenge to Lobsters Everywhere"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

What the heck?
\n
\nI\u2019m starting to read the book 12 Rules\nfor Life: An Antidote to Chaos<\/em> to kick off this year. And I\u2019m thinking of\nusing the book as a month-by-month guide. One chapter each month. One rule to set\ninto place. One new mind-set to focus on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first chapter is titled \u201cStand Up Straight With Your Shoulders Back\u201d and that’s a message I need. I hover over a computer all day. I lean forward. My neck and shoulders hurt ALL THE TIME.\u00a0 I fear becoming one of those ladies who has a hunchback. I’ll tell the youngsters that it’s because I reached adulthood<\/g> the same time that the internet became popular. I’m in the first generation where we can become victims of life focused on a screen. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m about 10 pages in, and so far, I haven\u2019t discovered any actual references to keeping your shoulders back, stomach in, gaze forward. No list of exercises to strengthen your abs. No tips and tricks to keep your neck straight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Instead, I’m reading about lobsters.

I know. Lobsters. \u00a0For the rules for living. Again, I\u2019m just starting the book, but lobsters wasn\u2019t<\/g> exactly what I was envisioning for my first day back to work in the new year.
What I have learned is that lobsters are crazy territorial\u2026and they are more than willing to fight to keep their land-rights. They need safe places to hide. They remember possible safe spaces even after they have found their own place to nest.\u00a0 When they are exposed, however, they can shoot stuff out of their eyes to give messages to other unsuspecting lobsters, \u00a0telling their size, sex, health\u2026and mood?

Yep. I think my husband often wishes that I had some sort of mood detector…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But there is an amazing fact about the lobster that I didn\u2019t\nknow. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A lobster that has suffered a harsh defeat can literally\nhave its brain disintegrate.  And,\nincredibly, this doesn\u2019t kill the lobster. Instead, a new, subordinate brain\nwill grow in its space.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What? What does that even mean?
\n
\nI have a few friends who have suffered some amazing defeats. And after these,\nlife just isn\u2019t the same. They are tentative. They are stuck in jobs far below\ntheir ability. They are just, well, sad. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And I have to wonder \u2026 has their brain become a few sizes too\nsmall?  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ok, I know that\u2019s not possible, but I believe a person\u2019s\nspirit can shrink. Self-confidence can diminish. When we stop believing in\nourselves. When we stop moving forward. When we listen to the loud, outside\nvoices instead of the still small voice in our soul that tells us who \u2013 and\nwho\u2019s we are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For 2019 \u2013 let me share with you some truths.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


\nYou are beloved. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

You are a child of the King.
\nYou were created perfectly, for a special purpose that only you can give to the\nworld.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You are cherished.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You are important.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You belong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And you have an amazing, beautiful future \u2013 both in the now\nand the not yet \u2013 if you choose it.  It\nmay be hard to see through the haze of bullying, defeat, heartache and murky\nwaters, but it\u2019s true.  You are the only\nyou this world will ever experience. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I know it can be hard to swallow, but you can turn things\naround. Today is a new day. 2019 can be a fresh start. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So seize it. You aren\u2019t a lobster. Your brain didn\u2019t\nactually shrink. Get out there and take back your life. Take back your year. Grow\nyour spirit. Maybe that means you have to speak, outloud, throughout your day\nwho you are. What you are made of.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s be loud in 2019 \u2013 loud in reminding the world how we\nare made \u2013 in the image of God our creator.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What the heck? I\u2019m starting to read the book 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos to kick off this year. And I\u2019m thinking of using the book as a month-by-month guide. One chapter each month. One rule to set into place. One new mind-set to focus on. The first chapter is titled \u201cStand […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[45,3,38,153],"tags":[537,543,536,539,542,83,540],"class_list":["post-533","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-faith","category-health","category-motivation","category-technology","tag-12-rules-for-life","tag-543","tag-jordan-b-peterson","tag-lobsters","tag-overcomers","tag-resolutions","tag-self-worth"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8fdt8-8B","jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wandertruenorth.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/533","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wandertruenorth.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wandertruenorth.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wandertruenorth.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wandertruenorth.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=533"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wandertruenorth.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/533\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":534,"href":"https:\/\/wandertruenorth.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/533\/revisions\/534"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wandertruenorth.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=533"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wandertruenorth.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=533"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wandertruenorth.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=533"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}