The Bus Stop is a series of true stories about my life, people I've worked with and events I've experienced. Of course the names have been changed. I hope these stories will brighten your day with a few laughs as well as give you encouragement. Hopefully you can avoid making some of the mistakes I've made and if you have already made them, then you can identify with me.


Monday, August 29, 2011

Get Over It!

You’re a marine and you just landed on Omaha Beach. Bullets are flying all around you as well as bombs exploding all around. As you are lying down under cover, the sergeant yells, “Move out!” However, you stay right where you are. The sergeant comes over to you and asks, “What’s wrong private?” You tell him, “I just feel like I’m not supposed to be here and I want to go home.” Immediately the sergeant calls the company psychologist over to help you work through your problems. NO! He would tell you to get your butt moving, because if you don’t soon you’re not going to feel anything.

This is where I lived for many years, stuck and not going anywhere while bombs were exploding all around me. I was afraid to move forward and was always looking to the past for comfort. Even though my past had many hardships there were no surprises there. I was stuck in my comfort zone.

The other day I got to thinking about the veterans of WWII and the horrors they were exposed to and the tragic things they witnessed. When they came home they fell right back into civilian life leaving the war behind. They got jobs, went back to the farm and worked, got married and raised families. My dad was in the worst part of the war. He was in the infantry that was a part of the Normandy invasion. He almost froze to death during the Battle of the Bulge. I would have never even known my dad was in the war except he told me. He as well as many of the veterans rarely talked about it. I wasn’t that interested back then, but oh how I wished I could ask him many questions now.

During Vietnam and now you have many soldiers that come back with PTSD (Post-traumatic Stress Disorder). Why? I asked an old WWII veteran what his thoughts were concerning this. He said that during WWII they knew their purpose and why they were there. There were fronts and they knew who they were fighting. In the other wars everything is not as defined and they see no purpose. Maybe they do at the beginning, but they see no end. Do you realize we been over in Iraq and Afghanistan for almost 10 years.

I don’t know if this is the reason or not, but the main difference I see is the WWII veterans moved on. If we live in the past we get stale, bitter and stagnate. Many don’t want to move on because it gives them excuses and justification to do the things they want to do. As long as we blame the course of our lives on past circumstances, such as parents, abuse, hardships and hurts of all kinds we will be stuck and never mature. It’s time to GET OVER IT!

Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. Philippians 3:12-14

I’ve attached an Eagles song and/or lyrics that I feel is appropriate.

Lyrics - http://www.lyrics007.com/Eagles%20Lyrics/Get%20Over%20It%20Lyrics.html

Song - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kslHr7_9Zac

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