Row, row, row, your boat…
The only boat we can row is our own
-Suppose my loved one and I are going down a river each in our own boat. If I try to row my loved one’s boat I would likely tip his boat over trying to get in.
-If I manage to get in without swamping him, I will make his boat heavier and harder to control.
-My loved one has only one set of oars.
-While I am interfering with his job of rowing his own boat, what happens to my boat?
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Gently down the stream…
-God’s way is always gentle. My God has consistently asked me to cut myself some slack, to let myself off the hook, and to be as gentle with myself as I wish I had been with my own daughters.
-It is a shame that I have tried to deal with the harsh treatment I received as a boy by treating myself more harshly than I have been treated by anyone else I have ever known.
-If I criticized you with the anger and contempt I treat myself, you would get me out of your life. I wouldn’t blame you if you dumped me.
-I am my only parent now. God help me be a kind, supporting, affectionate parent to myself.