You Have an Anchor

This morning, I found myself running to catch a ferry before it left port.

Today’s lesson is not about timeliness. It is not even about clear communication, although the importance of that lesson feels rather significant. Case in point: my morning sprint...in a bralette.

What I want you to think about today is this: how thrown off would you have felt for the rest of the day if this had been you?

Fortunately, I have found accountability in you, my reader, to look for the greater lesson. So, under the glaring eyes of 30 new acquaintances, I humbled myself under the misunderstanding, made a joke about how my husband often accuses me of making grand entrances, and sat down.

Well, I stood, actually. There were no seats available.

But what is it about our mistakes, frustrations, and even small, harmless events going imperfectly that makes us mentally pull up our anchor of peace and hand our power over to the tide?

And what is even more baffling is that we still expect ourselves to make wise, grounded, healthy decisions from that state of turmoil.

There is a whole feedback loop here, and it often starts with the deep-rooted beliefs we are trying to validate about ourselves and the world around us.

If you battle the belief that your metabolism is broken and weight loss just does not happen for you, one stressful ferry ride could leave you spiraling. Suddenly, you feel broken. You feel irreversibly doomed to be overweight. Maybe the weight of those glaring onlookers reinforces the idea that, at your core, you are inadequate.

So, you get to shore and order the fish and chips with extra sauce. You wash it down with a soda and grab the cookie to go.

Then, in a further attempt to validate those beliefs, you beat yourself up for eating the cookie. The rest of the day gets pulled even farther from the shore of peace by the tide of self-loathing.

I want to point out one very important thing here:

You have an anchor.

As your health coach, I want to encourage you to stop beating yourself up for your actions and instead allow them to become indicators.

When our soul and spirit are anchored to God, there are signs: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

When we lose our anchor to Truth and our reliance on God, there are indicators there too: greed, lust, envy, gluttony, pride, fear, and self-condemnation.

The problem is not the action portion of the feedback loop! The problem is not in the act of raising that cookie to your mouth. The problem is not the late-night snacking. And the opposite is true as well: you are not more lovable because you get your workout in every day and eat your body weight in vegetables every day.

Your actions do not determine your worth.

So the next time you experience turmoil or stress, simply get curious about what you do next to feel better.

Do you reach for food? Shopping? Social media? Withdrawal? Control? Overworking? Do you turn the frustration inward and begin speaking cruelly to yourself?

Our actions can be incredible indicators. They can show us where we are seeking comfort, control, relief, or validation.

But do not ever confuse those indicators with the Truth God says about you. James tells us that when we waver in our trust in God, we can become like a wave of the sea—blown and tossed by the wind. And I think that is exactly what turmoil can feel like: when a frustrating moment, a hard conversation, or a cookie has enough power to pull us away from the Truth of who God says we are. Nothing can separate you from the anchor God offers you, His love for you. What I love about God’s love is that He loves us too much to leave us where we are. He has plans for you.

You are loved before the ferry ride. You are loved after the fish and chips. You are loved with the cookie in your hand. And you are loved as God gently calls you back to His shores of grace.

This Week's Implementations:

The next time something throws you off today—a frustrating conversation, a mistake, an unexpected delay, a craving, or a moment where you do not feel like your best self—pause before reacting.

Take one slow breath and ask God to help you come back to your anchor.

Do not shame yourself for what you feel like doing next. Just get curious. Notice what you are reaching for to feel better, gain control, find comfort, or quiet the turmoil inside of you.

A Prayer:

God, I feel myself being pulled by this moment. Help me return to the Truth of who You say I am. Show me what this reaction is trying to tell me, without shame or condemnation. Remind me that I am loved, I need only to rely on You to help me take the next best step from a place of peace.

Journal prompts:

• What situations, thoughts, or emotions most quickly pull me away from peace and make me feel “tossed by the wind”?
• When I feel overwhelmed, embarrassed, stressed, or inadequate, what do I typically reach for to feel better?
• What is the Truth God says about me in those moments, separate from my actions, appearance, food choices, or productivity?
• What simple things in my health, like turning off my phone to get more sleep or planning real, protein-filled meals instead of eating on the fly and getting hangry, would help me feel more anchored if I focused on being consistent with them?