POISE

Have you ever just lost your cool? What would it take for you to just go “postal” on someone? In my job, I often have to “bite my tongue” or distract myself in some way just so I want put my foot in my mouth or cause more damage by saying or doing something stupid.

Last spring, at my son’s little league baseball game a mom came up to me and just read me the riot act. Right in front of my 15 year old daughter, she was verbally killing me over something like the chalk lines were not fresh. Of course she was breathing probably about 6 beers on me as she screamed. And she didn’t just make her point and quietly go away. She kept saying the same thing over and over again. I was doing my best listen first skills, but actually in my mind I was envisioning shoving her down the hill and seeing if her 1.7 blood alcohol level could keep her balance.

After about 10 minutes, I finally got her calm and over to her seat in the bleachers. Another mom came over and said she appreciated how poised I was during that altercation. While I appreciated her comments, I am not sure that biting my tongue and day dreaming of shoving her down a hill is necessarily poise under pressure.

Poise is really when you are just being your natural self without any show or pretense. When I think of poise I think of Mother Teresa, John Wooden, Grace Kelly, my grandfather.

The man in me often likes to organize things but not offer details. Some of my staff, (let’s be honest it’s some of the females) they need details. I always get questions like what should I wear, who is going to be there, what kind of food is being served, should I wear flats or heels, hair up or down, glasses or no glasses, and does this skirt make my butt look big! ARRRGGGGHH….just be yourself!

I digress….Poise is a combination of self control and confidence. It is hard to have that true aura of poise, but it is a culmination of being a dedicated worker, being enthusiastic, being friendly to everyone, being loyal, cooperative and alert. Poise is not being afraid to fail while realizing that we are human and we fail on occasion. Poise is trusting that God is in control!

Pray this week that God gives you the poise that comes from a spirit controlled life.