The Morning After the Night Before

REGRET has a power its very own, but only if we’ll act – and act now and keep acting!

Now, let’s see what can comprise that ‘the morning after the night before’ feeling? Drinking, eating, or consuming too much. It might be about committing to a particular relationship; spending time with the wrong crowd, the manipulator, or with anyone quietly envious. Perhaps it’s the incredibly indignant sense of pride you exhibited in standing your ground (unreasonably so) with your partner. Maybe it was not standing up.

But, also, occasionally, it might be that the morning after the night before is an amazingly positive experience.

We might have poured our hearts out to God – having been taken beyond our natural form of coping and into the reliance of prayer. Maybe there is a relationship that has taken off; romance, a business partnership; a breakthrough of some sort.

But this article is really targeted at the regretful morning after the night before.

When Time is NOW to Pounce for Change

Change is up to us.

There is no way of getting around this. There is no part for another person – not a central part. God has saved the central part of change, in our own lives, for us to design and complete.

Perhaps you will now have the resolve to take on the support of a fellowship of group therapy. These are supporters, but you still have to do your work. There is no getting around it. God will require you to go through the pain – the withdrawals, the temptations to ease off, etc. It’s up to you. What’s it to be? Further regret and time-wasting or the exhilaration of victory. You run that race every time.

Nobody else can cover this but you.

And there is no use in being ripped apart by guilt for what happened last night. Don’t do it again – ever. Then the guilt, the shame, the regret, the weakness of character is dealt with.

One thing is needed: a rigorous commitment to honesty.

It can’t be overstated: the need for honesty.

Nothing can compete with honesty, because when you obey the will of God in being honest, come what may, you grow in integrity. Not only do others trust you; you begin to trust yourself!

Pouncing for change is today’s opportunity today.

Tomorrow is no such thing, because, when it comes to this sort of change, tomorrow never seems to come. Today it must be.

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Regrets and their accompanying shame and guilt – the morning after – are resolved in action, but it must be purposed for today and not for tomorrow. Today it must be. Then there is the power of God for change.

© 2013 S. J. Wickham.