Tears are Warm – THINK on that

Do you remember Gecko Hawaii shirts and other attire of the 1980s? Well, they are back. With the vintage shirts being seen in the great series Stranger Things, the sell of these retro surfer shirts are going through a revival.  Recently, I ordered one of their ‘hyperflash’ tees. We had a beach theme thing going and I decided to get one of these great tees that change from one color to another color by the warmth of the body.

It’s so cool, that these shirts see handprints, warmth and the shirt’s color is converted. Then, once cooled, it returns to the original color.

I wish life was kind of like this.  Wouldn’t it be great that if no matter what impacts us, we convert right back to where we started – no harm, no foul, no consequences. I’m jumping ahead.

Let me continue with my story. Today, when I was watching a tv show, a tear or two started to form in my eyes. Is seem to get a bit teary eyed these days at weird movies and tv shows. When Jack Ryan gets shot, or Jack Reacher loses a friend, Sheldon wins the Nobel, Shawn and Julia get together in Psych, or some other action flick has a bad turn … I get a little teary eyed. No real emotions just weird. However, today was something I had never really pondered.

I wiped the tear from my eye and then wiped the tear on to my t-shirt. Immediately, the shirt turned pink exactly where the tear touched it. 

Tears are warm!?

I tarted thinking, song lyrics … Tears in Heaven … Warm Tears, Cold Beers … which made me think of I’ve Got Tears in My Beer for Crying Over You. (Interestingly, most of these are all in country songs.)  Now, I don’t drink, never have. But it seems warm tears and cold beers wouldn’t co together.

I googled warm tears. There are interesting studies on why we shed tears, different kinds of tears, how some tears do have different temperatures, purpose of tears and more.  Too much for here. But the warmth of the tears are basically because the warmth of the body. 

I did think it was interesting that those who do cry are more emotionally healthy and those who cry are able to connect better.  So, there is that – but I still hate hugs. 

But in all of this, I begin to think about emotions and impact of emotions. I have them. We all do.

So I repeat … I wish life was kind of like these Gecko Hawaii shirts.  Wouldn’t it be great that if no matter what impacts us, we convert right back to where we started – no harm, no foul, no consequences. 

But we do have consequences. We are impacted by emotions. So, let us do whatever we can to control and win the battle of our mind.  I ran across a simple acrostic that helped me in this battle – An acrostic to the word THINK.

THINK

T – Test every thought (Ps 139.23-34)
H – Helmet your head (Eph 6, guard your heart)
I – Imagine great thoughts (promises)
N – Nourish your mind
K – Keep on learning

We may never go back to the way before the emotions impacted us, but we can grow and be stronger.

And with that, every time I wear my Gecko shirt, I will remember to think about the battle of the mind!

What will you do when you get teary eyed?