Don’t Be a Sheldon Cooper
For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control. (2 Timothy 1:7)
I’ve told you several times I am a Big Bang Theory addict. We have a life-sized cardboard Sheldon Cooper who often shows up in our closet, scaring my wife regularly. After some psychotherapeutic reflection, I realized why Big Bang means so much to me. (And here you thought I was going to reflect on why I horribly tease my wife; silly you.) I love watching Big Bang because I sometimes wish I could be Sheldon. He is brilliant, and, at first glance, he doesn’t have feelings. Sometimes, I tell myself, a life without emotions would be great.
Having feelings can hurt! Empathy sticks! Yet, empathy is a divine gift. Without empathy, life becomes cold. We leave others without sympathetic warmth, and our own lives feel irrelevant. With every feeling, there is both pain and joy. The key is to address the pain faithfully so the discomfort and bitterness do not steal the joy. “3 Painful Emotions That Might Be Trying to Tell You Something” by Nick Wignall recommends, “You can start listening to your emotions instead of avoiding them.” Once you embrace the courage to face your emotions, your life will come into focus, and room for joy will emerge.
For example, Nick Wignall asks the reader to face any pangs of jealousy. Once we reflect, Wignall believes we will recognize that “Feeling jealous is often a signal from your mind that you lack something important.” Our feeling of lacking creates negative responses. When we begin to recognize our misplaced shortcomings, joy returns. God desires our feeling fulfilled and worthwhile. Wignall provides another example, “Irritability.” He writes, “Irritability is often a sign that you need to be more assertive in your communication.” Hence, irritability helps us understand our need to assert ourselves more.
These two examples, jealousy and irritability, and Wignall’s responses provide a way to self-learning, which leads to joy. If you stop and think through what it is telling you, each emotion will provide healing opportunities. So today, pray for God to give you the wisdom to evaluate your feelings and the integrity to respond in a way that brings emotional and spiritual maturity. Master your emotions, and joy becomes a reality. Faith isn’t always easy, but joy is worth the effort. It’s better than being a self-absorbed, unempathetic Sheldon Cooper.