Wednesday, September 28, 2011

8 Ways to UnScrooge-ify



Halloween decorations are up, which means it’s fair game for me to talk about something Christmas related. :D Today I’m giving you eight ways to UnScrooge-ify. Remember Scrooge—how judgmental, ice-hearted, and crotchety he was?


We don’t want to be like that.


No we don’t. So how do we UnScrooge-ify?


Think Shoes
One of the best nuggets of wisdom a friend gave me…“We never know how we’d act if we walked in their shoes, had their life—had lived their story.” Next time you find yourself quick to tear someone down in your head, remember this.


Locate Your Wooden Plank
We have to be honest with ourselves. We’re all a mess. We are only kidding ourselves if we think we have it all together. We all have areas of struggle. Before we are quick to point and glare icicle daggers into someone for their nasty behavior, we need to take a moment to remember where we’ve been and what we’re still working on. And then we are prudent to begin jerking that plank from our own eyes to rectify our vision.


Laugh
You might be thinking what the heck does laughter have to do with becoming less crotchety and judgmental. But it does. When we’re laughing, we are taking things less seriously. We aren’t letting small discouragements or disappointments dive inside our hearts and plant a warfare spray of jealousy, anger, or immobilizing fear.


Be Time Sensitive
For such a time as that. Your friend has been lashing out lately. Yes, it sucks. But remember when she told you this is the time of year her mom died and how she confessed she was afraid that lump was generational cancer? We are inclined to judge less when we know more (when we take the time to know more).


Grant Grace
Hard one, I know. But it was given to us—all of us. In abundance. So we are called to give it.


Let It Go
What do balloons, babies, and bitterness have in common? At some point we need to let go. For the latter, the sooner the better. Bitterness clenched in a fist turns to the heart to rotted fruit fast.


Volunteer
When we step outside ourselves, we heal. Think of what happened to Scrooge when he got the fat turkey—when he decided to be giving and not a miserly judge?


Give Freely (an echo of #7—it’s that important)
Test yourself. How valuable are your valuables? Not just things, but your time. Do you hoard it? How about women, how easy is it for you to genuinely uplift another woman? One of the best ways to ward off a Scrooge spirit is to care less. Care less about our things, our time, our…me…me…me. Giving makes it about you.


Can you think of any other ways we can UnScrooge-ify?


*photo by flickr

13 comments:

  1. Good advice, Wendy! Funny, I just got a text from a friend saying he got the role of Bob Cratchet in this play. ha!

    Christmas is in the air, friend! :)

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  2. Wonderful advice and never too soon to Un-Scroogify (though I'll wait on posting Christmas until after the turkey :D)
    I think my favorite is the first one. The ability to walk in someone else's shoes is such an important one to cultivate. It can really change your mind about someone!

    Happy Wednesday!
    Jen

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  3. Oh, I love this list! I wouldn't add a thing, unless it's praying for h.e.l.p. in all these other areas!

    Funny, I was telling my DH last night how we'll soon be singing carols...

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  4. Miss you already, Wendy.

    Great tips, every one. This line really spoke to me, "We are inclined to judge less when we know more (when we take the time to know more)." The more I learn about someone's backstory and current situation, the more I'm able to understand and extend grace. Since the Lord knows me intimately, it makes sense that He showers me with grace daily, and, oh, do I appreciate that.

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  5. So true...all of it. Especially the "think shoes" one. :)

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  6. I love #7--Give Freely.
    I would also add: Listen.
    Stop talking about you, you, you and listen to what the other person is saying (or not saying.) In doing so, you discover what the other person needs ... what her hurts are, the cause of all the scroogey-ness.

    Wonderful post.

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  7. Wonderful advice, Wendy! I'm horrible about getting grumpy when my schedule is interrupted (mental schedule since I don't really like to plan things out).
    Also, that plank thingy...ouch. Every so often mine pokes me. lol

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  8. Fabulous post! I find when I choose to be more grateful and look for the positive in what seems a negative situation, then I'm less grouchy. Naps helps too. :)

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  9. Remembering the reason for the season helps me when the busyness of the season gets me going Scrooge-like.

    All great tips here, Wendy. Thank you!

    And, yes, I remember our lounge chat. It meant a lot to me. God angel-ized you just for me then!

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  10. Such a terrific post that needs to be printed out and posted on every refrigerator. I'm learning a lot about grace and listening in this season of my life. I'd add Love Unconditionally too.

    I so loved meeting you in person, my sweet friend. You're even more beautiful than I imagined. Your heart is so open and inviting.

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  11. All good nuggets of wisdom...but don't get into X-mas just yet, Halloween is my favorite holiday:)

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  12. This is a really beautiful post, Wendy. I strive to UnScrooge-ify but I fail more often than I'd like. Your post is a gentle reminder and support. Thank you!

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  13. Wooden planks . . . volunteering . . . Absolutely! Even Scrooge can be a very inspirational model. Nice one:)

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