Hi Normalita!,
Did you say you are bothered with stresssssss? Bills and kids and bills and family and bills...did I mention these might be stressful? I send you a very strong hug and tell you that you are NOT alone! BUT! There is, not a magic wand, HOPE. Why can I say this with certainty? Well...I love Dr. Phil and feel that of all the self-help motivational speakers he is number one. Caring, Kind, Actively supporting those who ask for help, rather than mouthing a lot of platitudes. Also, he is moral and that goes a long way with me, I like that he has values in a world where they have pretty much been lost. Not individually, of course, but in mainstream society anything goes nowadays.
I watch Dr. Phil everyday at 4:15 ET. I miss the first fifteen minutes as I am coming home from work(I am a fellow school bus driver) but get what I can! Something that has made a huge difference in how I handle certain stresses is faith. If I am printing anything that may seem not to belong here, well, I looked for a way to email you personally but couldn't find it. So, if I have sorry and still had to say it. Perhaps it will help someone else too.
Stress is part of everyday, not always big, sometimes small stuff, but there. I find that if I simply, not expect bad but count it as small and not able to control me, it suddenly has a whole different perspective. I do read the bible nearly every day. It is spiritual food, nurishment, sustaining. There is comfort, reliable advice, hope between its covers. For instance, King Solomon, a very wise man who at times had a LOT of stress wrote under inspiration, at Ecclesiastes 9:11,
'I returned to see under the sun that the swift do not have the race, nor the mighty ones the battle, nor do the wise also have the food, nor do the understanding ones also have the riches, nor do even those having knowledge have the favor; because time and unforseen occurrence befall them all.'
Normalita, everyone sufferes it and no amount of gain or schooling or planning makes it obsolete in anyones life. So then, what to do? First, if I start to feel down I write a Positives list. Sounds corny maybe, however, sometimes we forget to be happy with what we have. We might acknowledge what we have but always qualifying it with a but, but,....not saying you do this, I am speaking generally. Next, pray. Pray not to have it taken away but to endure through it along with everyone else. Pray to endure with dignity intact, faith intact knowing that He has got you through this problem or that one, and will do it again so long as you ask in faith.
Matthew 6:34 , here Jesus counsels us in this way, 'So, never be anxious about the next day, for the next day will have its own anxieties. Sufficient for each day is its own badness.' Before this, Jesus had been talking about the little birds of the field and the flowers and their bright colors, their own clothing. They seem insignificant yet are beautifully taken care of. Doesn't he take care of you? A husband you have been married to 30 years! What an accomplishment in this day and age! Pat yourself and him also on the back! Congratulations! Children grown, raised with hard work! Focus on the accomplishments and give thanks that you were supplied the strength to accomplish them when perhaps you didn't know you were supported so well. You are not alone.
Notice this verse from Matthew 6 also, verse 27 reads, 'Who of you by being anxious can add one cubit to his life span?'. Stress takes YEARS off your life. Pray, with conviction, and let God handle what needs to be handled and what has happened, its gone. Not minimizing what your memories may be, please don't think that! Don't give them life and control.
The prophet Isaiah in chapter 65: latter part of verse 17, is talking about life after Armageddon. One of the points he makes is this....'...the former things will not be called to mind, neither will they come up into the heart.' Now we work hard to get past bad memories by focusing on the future, while assured that the time is coming when all those hurts buried in our brains and hearts will be wiped away. A promise. Revelation 21: 4-5 speaks of the same time frame and says, 'And he will wipe out every tear from their eyes, and death will be no more, neither will mourning nor outcry nor pain be anymore. The former things have passed away. And the one seated on the throne said: "Look! I am making all things new. Also. he says: "Write, because these words are faithful and true."
Dr. Phile would hopefully back up the need to look forward with life. Scripture has been around, verbally and written down, for 6,000 years. It has a proven track record. I know this isn't what you generally find here but I just had to try. Hope I have said something to help someone, everyone. Maybe just a little tweak of curiosity. I will keep you in my prayers to Jehovah.
Kim
