Irish Music: The Secret to Staying Calm?

BIBLICAL POINT OF REFERENCE:

“Do not fear: I am with you; do not be anxious: I am your God. I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my victorious right hand.”

~Isaiah 41:10

It had been a rough 12 hours or so.

I’d gotten into an argument, I’d had to spend a lot of time preparing for the homecoming of my siblings from college, and I’d been so wrapped up in trying to be productive that I hadn’t slept enough—actually, I went to bed to late, so I just wasn’t taking care of myself. As a result, I sat at work the next day exhausted, weepy, and completely out of sorts. I found myself wanting to put on my “Sad” playlist on Spotify, but I didn’t want my sleep-deprivation to make my emotions go AWOL, so I decided to put on my “Irish” playlist instead.

You might be wondering why I decided to listen to Irish music in the middle of the Christmas season. It’s unconventional, for sure, but it says a lot about me: 1) That I love Ireland, 2) that I’m appreciative of my heritage, and 3) that I know what calms me down when I am in a bad place.

You see, I have this terrible ability to let my anger, frustration, and weariness manifest in my brain and my heart until I lose my cool. The people around me become casualties in my fight to release all my struggles from within, and then I’m left with nothing but the destruction I created. It really is a horrible habit of mine, and not much helps me calm down before all hell breaks loose.

Except Irish music. Weird, right?

I could speculate all day about why this is something that helps me, but for now, let me just say that God speaks to us in the strangest (or maybe not so strange) ways. Sometimes we don’t hear Him through other people or see Him in the events of our day. Sometimes He needs to reach us in more simplistic ways, using methods that will gently pull our hearts into His loving care. Since He knows us best, His chances of reaching us are pretty high. I guess the Lord knows how much I miss Ireland….

It’d been a rough 12 hours or so. My weary soul was longing for warmth, comfort, and rest. I put my Irish music on, I breathed deeply, and I turned to my work. I had a lot to get done—a lot of good, hard work to complete that day. I had a great weekend to look forward to. I had a lot of wonderful people in my life. I had a lot to be grateful for.

I still do.

Dia dhuit (God be with you).

Callahan

Check out the WHEN LIFE DRAGS YOU DOWN and PERSONALITY quotes pages for more inspiration!