Burrs That Rankle

Sometimes being married to somebody is similar to walking through a patch of burrs. As you walk, the seeds of the plant or fruit attach themselves physically with little sharp hooks, teeth, or thorn-like projections. They build up so easily and quickly. The adherence may not even be noticeable at first, nor may the magnitude of the attachments be. The irritation can be mild or grievous depending on the type of burr…the type of interaction, or the species of such.

The interaction resulting in a thorn-like attachment may be a daily event….or something that is verbalized that is bothersome…or when expectations aren’t met, or feelings are hurt, or when disrespect occurs. This is comparable to picking up an additional burr per occurrence. Some days the whole day is “a walk in a burr patch” and, other days, the little leftover hooks sting residually.

The only way to remove burrs is “one-by-one.” Deal with them individually. Uproot them. There is not a fool-proof way of mass removal. If clothing is washed, the burrs will now be “clean” burrs, but intact burrs they will be. If there is burr-free clothing together with the burdened clothing, the formerly free will now be stickered. Every irritation must be picked off one by one, individually. That is the only way to ensure that all the thorny projections have been removed. If each one is not removed, the reminder will chime at the most inconvenient time. That’s a promise. 

 I have been called to this marriage, not to happiness. It is not my duty to seek to be happy all the time or to feel good. It is my job to acccept my lot in life while using my talents and skills to the best of my abilities.  This means that I have to pick off “every single burr every single time” it occurs.  It may take days to pick them off. I might get as many on me in that time as the many I just removed. So be it. 

Marriage is not easy. No one ever said it would be, unless they were lying or truly had no idea how things work or possibly were just out of touch with reality. Marriage is still worth it. It is consistency and help for the long run of life.

How many people stay in relationships or jump into a new one because of lack of companionship? Many people engage in one-night stands or jump from person to person because of that need. Marriage fulfills that need and it was designed to fulfill that need. Jumping from relationship to relationship can only cause more pain, mourning, and additional need. All too often, after so much jumping, the heart and soul become immune to true relationship and companionship. Real heart connections and soul connections become harder and harder, then near inaccessible. It becomes impossible to just relax and enjoy the other person. Both know that it might not last; it will likely be temporary.  

Over time, opening up to new love or different romantic relationships builds massive scar tissue. The heart never looks the same again, no matter how much Mederma is applied in hopes of soothing away the redness, the lines, the raised skin.  Each additional opening and resulting cut causes the scarring to get thicker and bigger and more fibrous. The heart becomes uglier and uglier. The heart looks and acts uglier and uglier.

My desire for my heart is that it will never be hardened. Hardened hearts and scarred hearts create more pain in this world than there should ever be. Observe males jumping from one woman to another. They can not cherish the person they are with. Their eyes keep looking to the next best thing, the next best “profit” or “trophy.” And the woman knows this. It is temporary and full of sharp stabs of pain to be in this relationship. Observe females jumping from one man to another. They become people who use others to assuage the hurt in their hearts. They use them for money, for status, for a temporary sexual fix, for a self-esteem booster. And more often than not, the man knows this.

I have a very strong feeling, a gut feeling…that this is not how life is intended to work. 

Yet when people jump from relationship to relationship, that is exactly how life becomes. That is what is modeled for children. That is what they will end up living. All of a sudden, it seems no one has their head screwed on straight. Who respects the other gender? Who respects other people? This is a sad state of affairs, indeed. So now I must dig those burrs out before they stick, dig those burrs out before they stick and cause big wedges and division…because I know the alternative. It is not worth it. Fighting for marriage is worth it.