Two Fronts

We’ve all lost our two front teeth, and then, we got new ones!  So, we won that war!  And we’ll all face two front battles in life: interior (ourselves/mind) and exterior (other people/life).  Go with me here…

I asked my Dad, an Army Veteran, my Uncle Jonathan, a Marine Veteran, my oldest brother, Thaddeus, currently in the Navy, and my older brother, Jarvis, a Marine Veteran, what to do if you’re fighting a two front battle and/or if you’re getting jumped by two people.

They all gave me insightful answers and to sum it up…

Know your enemies.  Fight and destroy the weaker opponent(s) first & quickly if possible, while keeping the stronger one at bay.  This preserves your resources.  Then turn and attack the stronger opponent.  You’ll need to know your position, strengths, weaknesses, and resources.

EXTERIOR

I would consider this the weaker opponent(s).  But even though weaker, there can be MANY making this side extremely strong, and influential to the interior’s strategy.  The exterior front contains relationships, and ‘life happens,’ moments (car wrecks, injuries, financial hardship, etc.)

1. Prioritize each of these exteriors.  You can’t fight everyone/thing, everyday.
2. Some exteriors don’t even need attention, some situations/relationships simply need to be cut off.  Cutting off the supply line during WWII helped win several battles.
3. Not all exteriors can be cut off, but you can set boundaries!  You can set perimeters for people and work.  Businesses have office hours, so can you.  Protect your resource, time.
4. And then some things in life you simply have to follow step by step.

**Check out “Boundaries,” by Henry Cloud and John Townsend

INTERIOR

Fee-fi-fo-fum, look out here I come!  It’s me, it’s you, and yep that’s the stronger opponent!

The interior is your thought life, what are you saying to you?  Using a lot of energy on the past, escaping to the future, or engaging in the present?

Deranged – to throw into confusion; cause to act irregularly

When you’re dreading possible outcomes in the future, technically you are living and feeling in a universe that does not exist, I would say that’s a bit deranged.  We all do this, but we can choose to think differently.

What do you say about you, to you?  What do you believe you’re capable of?  Either way, you’re right.  Writing affirmations on a postcard to say in the morning could help you develop a new healthy habit and change your view of you.

One of my favorite things that my Dad was taught is – he’s not better than anyone, and no one is better than him.  His belief is that he’s capable of doing/learning anything someone else has, and if no one’s done it yet, he can certainly try.

What’s your attitude towards you?  Are you merciful with yourself, forgiving, loving, hopeful?

So, can I beat me?  I’m a beast and I know it.  And so are you.  So, if I can not beat my enemy, I will make my enemy my ally, and my friend.  The exterior can aid the interior, but the interior is stronger, and can influence and change the exterior.  Once I have the interior on my side, the exterior becomes even smaller.

So how do I gain ground on the interior front?

1. Know God – any real change is rooted there.  God is the best ally there is, we are in partnership with God.
   1.  “So you see, faith by itself, isn’t enough.  Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless.” – James 2:17 NLT
2.  Limit the exteriors as much as possible.  Everything that’s urgent isn’t important.  And everything that’s important isn’t urgent.  Pick and choose, prioritize.
3. Speak words of love and empowerment to yourself.  Don’t repeat what loved ones have said that has hurt you.  Deception is a tool of the enemy, and what better deception than for loved ones, friends, or peers to define you in negatively, and then you play repeat in your mind.  Dump the junk and redefine.
4. It’s never too late, you’re still here.  The war is not over.
5. Be courageous and encouraged.

**”Battlefield of the Mind,” by Joyce Meyer, I’ve read this a few times, and will continue to do so.

“We use God’s mighty weapons, not worldly weapons, to knock down the strongholds of human reasoning and to destroy false arguments.” – 2 Corinthians 10:4 NLT