When Anxiety Great Within – God’s Consolation Brought Joy

A few thoughts...

Stress, anxiety and worry were some of the circling, destructive thought patterns that I have had the most difficulty laying at the cross. It's taken a lot of practice to consistently:

PAUSE

As soon as the tightness in the shoulders & jaw begins. My thoughts start to race around creating worst case scenarios and impossibly long mitigation and contingency plans.

BE PRESENT

Recognize the situation and what is triggering these feelings and thoughts. Acknowledge the feelings as they arise instead of shoving them into a corner. Calming my breathing. Stretching a little to loosen the knots. Asking what is it that I really need in this moment? 

INVITE PRESENCE

God, help me! What is it that I need to do so I am not consumed? How do I keep my focus on serving You instead of succumbing to the noise of the world? Help me lay this at the cross. Thank you for this opportunity to bring me closer to you.

ENJOY PRESENTS

Feel the wave of calm and joy, soothing frayed nerves and slowing whirling thoughts.

RELATED: Prayer & Intuition

It's Not Always Easy

When I felt my foot slipping... it has not always been so smooth as this example. Let me tell you sometime ... it was a struggle even to pause. Sometimes it wasn't until my body was in pain or exhausted that I would notice what was going on. Other times it was as I was stress eating or pounding another coffee that would bring me to the awareness that I was in another spin and needed to pause.

For years, I thought stress relief and reduction could be found just with the first two steps. (Accompanied with a diet of mainly clean, real foods and other stress reduction activities.) Finally, I was at breaking limits and in a health crisis before I invited God in the first time. At the time I had not returned to my childhood Christian faith - I was just at rock bottom and recognized that in trying to control my life, I had lost control.

Inviting God into these moments has been the only thing that has allowed me to consistently maintain an even keel through turbulent storms. Especially the storms of my own making where I amplified the situation or accelerated the circling thoughts.

Women I have mentored over the years have found the same thing, regardless of their faith. They needed to be able to look beyond themselves for perspective to help keep down stress & overwhelm.

Prayer and Journal

What signs do you receive as you are getting too busy or too laser focused? How do you know when your foot is slipping?

How can you become more aware of these early signs to ensure you pause before you are feeling greater intensity of tension, exhaustion, stress, anxiety or overwhelm? Before you begin stress eating or self-medicating with stimulants like caffeine or relaxants like alcohol?

Looking back, what situational patterns exist that create tension, exhaustion, stress, anxiety, or overwhelm for you?

What are ways you can remind yourself to Invite God's Presence?

How can you benefit from inviting God's presence?

What has stopped you from reaching out to God in these moments in the past?

My hope for you...

I hope that these words (or what you experience through doing this as a journaling exercise) can serve to inspire and energize changes in lifestyle that help you to imporve work-life balance and reduce stress. You deserve to have thrive & flourish.

Interested in other tips on how to boost your energy naturally & reduce stress? Check out these 8 ideas.