Leaving Anxiety Behind

When difficulties or danger are near, an automatic alarm sets off and the body naturally responds with symptoms of anxiety. An alertness and focus is conjoined with a motivation to solve the problem, hopefully without crossing over into the territory of anxiety disorders. Fortunately, there are many healing modalities designed to restore peace and provide the tools and skills necessary to handle life’s difficulties and dangers.

Effective healing begins by first realizing that the irritableness, churning stomach, fretting, and tension are only accompaniments to anxiety. They are only ripples to a demand to improve a situation according to the law of progress. In regard to anxious symptoms, Herbalist and author of The Desktop Guide to Herbal Medicine, Brigitte Mars, A.H.G. answers, “Before reaching for a quick fix, make sure your home and work environments are calming…even the best herbs won’t work if you’re taking them in a stressful space.”

But sometimes, our home and workspace are stressful due to forces not in our control, therefore, Dr. Brooks, co-author of The Power of Resilience: Achieving Balance, Confidence and Personal Strength in Your Life,” points out, “What you can control is your attitude and response to these difficult situations.” So, we make an effort to guide our thoughts toward peace. However, society’s hard and soft sciences teach us that our attitudes and responses are controlled by hormones and genes, proving it rather difficult to deal with life’s difficulties and gain that peace.

This is when the next step of accepting spiritual Science is taken. Science and Health, a textbook on spiritual Science reads, “Thought increases or diminishes blood pressure, mutates the genes, or affects the action of the lungs, bowels, and heart…To remove the error producing disorder, you must calm and instruct human mind with spiritual Truth.” Remarkably, instead of a human mind trying to correct itself and get a better grip on life or anxiety, the human mind is better off acknowledging spiritual truths which not only motivate us to progress and keep us safe from danger but also gives us the strength to manifest peacefulness. The error to remove from thought is that we have to rely on the human mind. Effective healing can result when our spirituality controls human thoughts.

Human being’s perception of anxiety is flawed therefore it reacts to or ignores life’s difficulties inappropriately. The anxious feelings are the human mind resisting change or improvement; whereas anxiety can be viewed as a promotion to manifest greater life, grace, health, activity, and other spiritual truths. These spiritual truths calm the human mind and a spiritual mindedness comes forth to take the reins and flow with progress.

Follow this link to an excellent article, titled, Worry is Like a Rocking Chair, by Joel Osteen, Pastor of Lakewood Church in Houston, Texas. Keep on singing praise!

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Different Car Features for Different Folks

It was time for a new family car. Our children were teenagers, so I figured we’d get the next larger model from the car we’d had since they were toddlers. “Oh, no Mom, we need a smaller car,” said the kids. The light bulb went off, and I agreed, better gas mileage had priority over more space.

After a bit of research, I went to a car dealer who sold compact models. A car salesman took me for a test run. He drove while continuing to “sell.” He was especially enthusiastic about one feature, how well the car can handle swerving on the road. I wasn’t too terribly impressed about how well any car took corners. I was noticing things like visibility, how many seatbelts there were in this car, and wow, it had automatic window openers, fancy…then all of a sudden, the car swerved so hard, that if I hadn’t had a seatbelt on, I’d of been in the salesman’s lap and back again against my door in 1.5 seconds. I bolted a, “You better do some fast explaining, buddy,” look at the driver. He quickly retorted, “I wanted to show you what this car can do, how well it can swerve.”

“I don’t care how well the car can handle a maniac driver,” I thought. And, I‘m sure he heard my thought, or read it on my face, because he toned down his enthusiasm and asked if I wanted to test drive the car. I tested it, and I did buy the car and drove it (like a mom chauffeuring around kids in a 4-door family car, no swerving) until the children were out of college, every day, glad I had a smaller car because they also make for easy parking.

Concordantly, when we’ve experience the positive force of spirituality in our everyday life, an enthusiasm sets in, however we can remember to temper human enthusiasm so it doesn’t become a willful zeal. We don’t have to “show” other people a particular feature of what spirituality can do. Spiritual enthusiasm is animated by wisdom, not unmindful authority. Every day we can feel our closeness to the Divine and reflect forward the many practical aspects of spirituality.

Reputations Do Not Make or Break a Person

Bryan just called to tell me he finally graduated from Washington State University (after 5 ½ years) and he wants to send us a copy of his Business degree diploma because he knows we will throw it out. Just like over 8 years ago we threw out his reputation for being a kid who resented learning in school. Bryan grew up in a harsh environment, adding to his reputation a angry shyness. And, we all bucked his reputation.

Sadly, reputations have a reputation for making or breaking a person and it is intriguing when reputations are broken and people live up to a higher sense of purpose.

Reputations are only estimations, suppositions, or ascribed characteristics. Reputations appear solid, but are often flimsy and fool human beings. This is not an excuse to neglect our reputation, but resolving to improve reputations proves they don’t determine our situations.

We’ve all heard about the person with a good outward reputation but is so suspicious and cocky inside that we don’t mind not getting to know them better. And, we’ve all known the person with a reputation for being a loser, but events prove they are sincere, empathic, and legitimately impacting our world with grace and improvement.

We are all proud of Bryan. It wasn’t easy to get through what he got through to earn that diploma. And, although I wanted to at times, I’m glad I didn’t give into his old reputation. Heck, I will try not to give into his new reputation and just love him as God made him. Bryan is like a member of the family who rings true to God’s promise of love and joy fulfilled.

It’s Time to Give Food a Break!

Okay, I want to add one more blog to my Food and Eating Series, because somebody has to stick up for food, especially with the Christmas and New Years festivities looming.

It’s time to give food a break!

Food is abused, craved, blamed, idolized, hated, obsessed over, and wasted. Why not simply appreciate food for what it is, and isn’t. Like appreciating ourselves, and others, for our spiritual qualities instead of material qualities.

What food is: 1) a nutriment for our bodies. 2) a symbol of humanity’s equality, we all eat, we all poop…

What food isn’t: 1) the source of our problems. 2) a comforter…

Have anything to add to these lists?

 

“Normal control is gained through divine strength and understanding.”–21st Century Science and Health