So many of us spend so many years in counseling trying to discover what is at the root of anxiety,
stress and panic is in our lives. The concept is that if we can find out why something is happening, we can stop it. If only that were true.
Yes, we have our triggers, things that set us off. We basically know what we like and what we don’t like. But beyond that, we can find ourselves floating in a sea of uncomfortable emotion often without any rhyme or reason or knowledge of how to stop it. This sends us into further mayhem as we attempt to focus on how we are feeling and how we got to this point.
Focusing on how you do not want to feel keeps you feeling how you do not want to feel. Focusing on how you want to feel will get you to where you are feeling what you want to feel. Focusing on illness keeps you ill. Focusing on wellness makes you well. We are discussing thoughts, moods and feelings here.
When you realize you are experiencing anxiety, stress and/or panic, tell yourself this is temporary, as this emotion always is. Use the five senses to help you move past this stumbling block.
- Smell. Use the sense of smell to change the scent of the room where you are. Peppermint, spearmint, oranges, apples, cinnamon, cloves all can be found as essential oils and used in a diffuser, or can be boiled in a pan of water on the stove. The only disappointing thing with boiling an apple, cinnamon and/or cloves is that you might expect to be eating an apple pie shortly!
- Sight. Change what you are looking at. Walk outside and catch the beauty of the sunrise or sunset, walk along a beach, see the interesting cloud formations, visit the flower section at the nearest grocery store or florist to take in the beauty.
- Touch. The sense of touch is healing such as in therapeutic massage or reflexology, or appreciate the touch of patting the fur of your pet, or building a sand castle at the beach.
- Hearing. Find relaxing and/or inspirational music that inspire you and lifts you away in your mind for a moment. Music soothes the savage breast, lifts the spirit. Take a joy ride in your car with the music on to transport the energy of your thoughts.
- Taste. Use your creative energy to make your favorite meal, a night of spaghetti and meatballs to fill your home with fragrant aromas and tastes, make or buy homemade bread directly from the bakery, whatever is your favorite thing to eat.
Who cares why we got to this anxious, stress and/or panicked point? That matters little. How many of us spent years trying to get to the bottom of the bottomless pit of negative emotion. Approaching anxiety, stress and panic in our lives using this method of discovery does not work, or if it does, it takes years of constant self-monitoring and striving to make behavioral changes, often with many failures along the way. Even if we ever get to find the ultimate cause of our current misery, we still yet have to switch our thinking from finding the cause to finding the cure. Let’s simply start by finding the cure.
Trying to find the cure for anxiety, stress and panic without praying to God, Almighty Father, Jesus is Son and the Father’s gift of his Holy Spirit is like trying to make a puzzle without all of the pieces. What you end up with is a picture still full of holes. It is not stable nor long lasting. That makes for a fragile life puzzle.
Any attempt to address anxiety, stress and panic in our lives void of the Author of All Life, and the gifts of his Son and Holy Spirit ultimately do not work. The joke is on us if we live a life without God in it. We might not yet have experienced God in our lives. Book knowledge is not the same thing as experiencing God in our lives. Not everyone has had the experience of God yet in their lives since faith is a gift. We can always pray for faith, or more faith. Or, we might be angry at God for situations in our lives, prayers we thought weren’t answered the way we wanted them to be. Or perhaps there were terrible things we have gone through which we think might justify our decision to not believe in God. But the funny thing is, believers and non-believers all get to the same life and death point, and face the Creator of All Life at the end of this earthly life.
If we stop caring why we got to where we are, how do we begin to feel better from this moment on?
Matthew 11:25-30 says, “At that time Jesus answered, saying, ‘I thank thee, O my Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hidden these things from the wise and men of understanding, and hast revealed them to children. Oh yes, my Father, for such was thy will. Everything has been delivered to me by my Father, and no man knows the Son except the Father, nor does any man know the Father but the Son and he to whom the Son wishes to reveal him.
“Come to me, all who and carry burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and meek in my heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is pleasant and my burden is light.”
Jesus points out that his words of faith are hidden from the supposedly wise gurus of the day. They are blinded by their own pride or false pride which keeps them from being humble and meek. Meek is not cowardly. Meek is having a tender heart which is open and earnestly seeking. Humility and meekness are a beautiful qualities to have. It is to those who have a humble heart, open to the stirrings of the Holy Spirit, that can hear and apply the words of Jesus. He wants us to cast our worries, cares and concerns on him. He can give us long lasting relief like no other remedy can. Only in Jesus can we find rest for our troubled souls, which is often the cause of our anxiety, stress and panic.
Begin where you are, right now. It involves a decision. Decide how you want to feel and keep your focus on feeling better. Remember the words of Jesus, the Son of God who made you. Act on faith and totally hand over your problems to Jesus. Take him at his word. Begin by praising God. Put God before your anxiety, stress and panic at the moment. As real as they are, the love of the Father and the Son are even greater. Glorify God’s name. Pray the Our Father, the Lord’s Prayer as he taught us to pray:
“Our Father in heaven, hallowed by they name.
They kingdom come. They will be done, as in heaven so on earth.
Give us bread for our needs from day to day.
And forgive us our offences, as we have forgiven our offenders.
And do not let us enter into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
Foe thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory for ever and ever. Amen.”
Draw from the well that never will run dry.
God Bless
UNIVERSAL WISDOM ENLIGHTENMENT™ LLC 