Red Circle With Diagonal Line

Tom and I got back from our weekend away. The much needed R & R was great. We enjoyed each other and had lots of fun. The way you know a man loves you is that he sits through a production of The Nutcracker Ballet because he knows you will enjoy it. Last night we got to see the show and it was really cute. It’s one of my favorite ballets to watch. I’m married to a really good man.

Before we came home we stopped in Ellensburg and ate breakfast at the Starlight Lounge. I know what you’re thinking – cheesy name – but the food is great and the atmosphere delightful. On the weekends they serve breakfast until two o’clock and they make the most delicious omelets. We shared a mushroom and smoked mozzarella omelet that’s served with stuffed hash browns that are to die for.

What does that have to do with a red circle with a diagonal line, nothing except the picture above was taken in our hotel room. It was the first time I’ve seen that warning – contact with sprinkler will cause flooding. I don’t know about you, but when I go to a hotel I usually hang up my clothes in the closet, not from a sprinkler head, but that’s just me. I found this extremely amusing.

This got me to thinking to reason behind the sign. Someone must have done that and caused a flood. Some rules and regulations are born out of someone or something getting hurt. What about our own rules and regulations that is unspoken and born out of own hurts. We may not realize we do this, but we do. Someone or something hurts us so we set up a rule so that it doesn’t happen again. We set up barricades around our hearts so that we are protected and safe. I understand this, it is something I do really well, but I don’t like it. I want to be free from the rules I make for myself that would cause harm to me and others. Because in the end if the barricade I set up shouldn’t be there, then it’s hurting me. Now I’m not talking about boundaries, which everyone should have, but about thick walls that are meant to isolate you from others. I find that when you put up walls you’re cheating yourself out of some relationships that would be a blessing to your life.

So it’s time to take the red circle with the diagonal line inside off my heart. Lord, free me from the bondages I have placed around my heart. Heal the hurts from the past so that I may be able to move forward with freedom and truth.

© Nadine Z. 2006