A loud, piercing sound filled our home as I frantically ran around, hands over my ears, trying to figure out where it was coming from.
I finally realized that an old alarm box that seemed to have been dormant for
decades was flashing red.
We'd only recently moved into our new house--this was back in Chicago--and we were still figuring things out.
My husband ran to call the previous owner, who gave us a code which he said would silence the alarm.
When it did, we all sighed a breath of relief as we half-seriously wondered if we had suffered permanent ear
damage.
The previous owner proceeded to tell us that he didn't know what made the alarm occasionally go off, or how to permanently disarm it, so he always kept the code handy in case he needed it.
Of course we tried everything, including calling the company who made the alarm, to disarm it, but nothing worked.
So, for over a decade we lived in this
beautiful home making sure that code was readily available in case the alarm ever went off.
It didn't happen often, but when it did, we didn't panic. We simply entered the code and turned off the alarm.
It quite literally was a false alarm.
I recently thought of this as I reflected on the false alarms that often go off inside of
us.
These alarms can fill you with panic, fear, and anxiety.
To be clear, these aren't the helpful warnings bells that alert you to real danger.
This is an intensity that doesn't truly match the circumstance.
I sometimes experience this as I'm about to share
more of my authentic self.