If Only....

Just stop.  Just quit.  hmmmm.  If only it were that simple.  To you who have struggled with anxiety know it is not so simple.  I used to get soooo angry when people or books would throw out cliche's.

As we go through our lives together sharing our Heart's Cry and being vulnerable and real on this journey then together we can move forward!!!

It is very hard work to build tools and the mental muscle and to retrain our brains and the spiritual muscle to shape our hearts.  

To stop.  To think. To overcome.  To praise.  Not just words.  It is so not simple especially at first.  It takes hard work and so much practice but doing it is so much better then letter our minds run wild!  Work. Trial and Error. Getting up after falling.  Work.  Persistence.

What Works (Most the time) for Me in worry, stress, anxiety and anger if I will do it!

Stop:  Carve out time.  I don't allow myself to think at all! Thoughts run in and I let them run right back out.  

Sometimes I have to push them out.  

Sometimes I starve them out.  

I walk.  I water.  I drive.  At this point I won't let my prayer go beyond praise and thanksgiving.  Much easier said then done!

Try for a minute to just be and it is so hard.  Not to think.  Not to tell God or ask Him.  To just be.

Breathe.  I love four by four breathing that I learned in my prenatal classes and my son calls, "tactical breathing." Breathe in to the count of four.  Hold it to the count of four.  Let it out to the count of four. Do it four times.  Don't wait for stress to try this out!  Practice daily so your body knows what to do when you begin.  Remember that mental muscle?

Think.  Think logically and without emotion.  Think about the truth.  I "talk truth" to myself.  

I pray, "Thank you God that You are in charge and in control and have everything in your hands! Thank you Lord that you created me and you know exactly how I am put together.  You know my situation and the plans that you have for me.  Thank you that I'm a new creation and the old has gone and the new has come!"  

I memorize scripture by hanging them up around my house and keeping those verses in front of me.  

I set the timer-literally, if I have to on my thoughts.  I'll only this about this...worry, child, problem, or issue for 30 minutes then I'm on to something else.

Overcome.  A word we tend to throw out but what does it really mean to overcome?  To defeat.  To have success in dealing with a challenge and difficulty?  

Overcome is present tense.  Overcame means it has been done.  So I am overcoming!!!!!  I am moving forward.  I am defeating because of what God has done and is doing in my life and in His strength and in His power.

Nothing can suck the life out of you more then thinking you are trapped or helpless or hopeless and to buy the lie that you can do anything about your situation.

Praise.   Are we there yet?  Heck no!  

But we Celebrate the journey! 

But we are building that spiritual, mental and emotional muscle.  God is with us.  We will overcome.  

We have so much to praise and be thankful for.  Enjoy life and your families and the simple things that God puts in front of us every day!!!