In addition to finally getting the practical help I needed, I also made the surprising discovery that embracing the reality of my limited number of days on earth has been key to unlocking the peace I had been longing for.
Category: Anxiety
The hidden benefits of kitchen therapy
When I was at my lowest point with my anxiety and depression, it took all of my mental energy to convince myself to get out of bed and move through my day. Most of my days I went through the motions of getting the kids off to school, working my secretary job, and being back home in time to welcome the kids home from school. Outwardly, I did my best to hold myself together when inwardly I was vacillating between wanting to cry in the dark or scream into a pillow.
5 Ways to Combat Stress and Improve Your Mental Health
Feeling overwhelmed? Get tips and tools to reduce stress, improve mental health and maintain balance in your life. Learn more here!
Get to the root of the issue
Do you find yourself overreacting to little irritations? Your partner forgot to pick up something on the way home - and it sets you off in a bad mood for the entire evening. Your child tracked mud on the freshly mopped floor - and you explode. You find yourself steaming with resentment when your boss simply asks you to complete one more task before headed home. If these types of things are causing your mood to tip from 'barely holding on' to 'full blown anger' it's time to take a closer look.
You Can Have Victory in the Wilderness
We live in a world of excess. We buy food we never consume, we have an ever-present box getting filled for the thrift store, and our trash cans on collection day are overflowing. We have so much, we can’t possibly hold on to it all. We also live in a world of speed. Our food is quick, our cars are speedy, and our days move so fast that they start to blur together. These two things together, excess and fast, leads to a life that leaves us feeling empty and exhausted. But there is a way to counteract what the world is telling us to do.
You are more than your feelings
We can either choose to follow our feelings of overwhelm, procrastination, and fear that are telling us that we can't handle the day, that we're not up to the task, and we are a failure. Or, we can dip into the toolbox for anxious days, remind ourselves that our feelings may be real, but they may not always be true, and take some practical steps to address our anxiety.
3 practical ways to help your anxious friend
If you have a friend in your life that struggles with anxiety and depression, the smallest acts of kindness can speak volumes. By reaching out and showing you care, you can be the ‘good and perfect gift’ that the Father has sent to your friend. And, when a good and perfect gift, in the form of a reach out from a friend, comes your way, you can trust it’s just one more example of His care for you.
Combating Anxiety in the Power of Small Intentional Moments
You know time is precious, and you don’t want to waste it. You desire a life that has meaning and purpose. But your day is filled with dishes, laundry, carpooling, the nine to five, texts to respond to, soccer practice, and bedtime routines. You say you want a life that matters, but how do you do that in the middle of … life?
Do not lose heart.
The world gives us more and more reasons to divide ourselves from other groups who don't think like us and there continues to be media sources that use fear instead of facts to inform, and our mental health is paying the price. It can become so easy to focus on what is going wrong in the world and begin to worry and fear for the here-and-now and for the future. Just one news article or passionate pessimist conversation can derail our whole day. What do we do about this? How do we combat the enemy and all the lies that he throws at us on a daily basis?
Settling in and putting down roots
Whenever our lives feel like we are striving and exhausted and untethered, we need to ask ourselves what part of our soul is longing for Eden. Humans were first intended to live in the garden, settled and surrounded by God’s presence. And our soul, whether we are aware of it or not, is trying to get back to the garden. We all long for our souls to nuakh in Eden.
