Thoughts, Feelings, & Emotions

     So today I wanted to discuss something that I have dealt with in my whole life, and I know many of you probably deal with as well. This thing is two words and it majorly impacts our everyday life. Depression and anxiety.... I know it's a battle in and of itself. Maybe even just the thoughts of those words make you a little queazy to your stomach, I know they do mine. Let's be real for a minute most everybody will experience some degree of sadness and some degree of anxiety at different points in their lives and It's not always a bad thing. Today though I'm talking about the kind of depression that makes you feel as though there really is no chance you will ever feel another ounce of happiness or that staying in bed and sleeping all the time is the best option because when you're asleep you don't feel as sad. I'm talking about the anxiety that makes you sick to your stomach to do easy things like go to school or that makes simple easy decisions a big task because you worry so much that you're making the right decision. I get it, I get it all and no it's not easy. 

   What if I told you though that your thoughts have complete power to control it all. Our minds are powerful and trust me I've been in that boat where I feel pretty hopeless about myself or about a situation happening in my life. Looking back on it all now I see it was a big portion of what I was telling myself. I told myself lies about what seemed to be happening, rarely were those lies true. I told myself that I was a difficult person to be around so no one liked me. I told myself that my life had no purpose because that's how it felt. There was a dark cloud over my head and I just kept letting it get bigger and bigger by telling myself all the horrible horrible lies. The moment I realized that I wasn't a bad person that I was actually a really good person the moment I realized that life is so valuable and its not about having a predestined purpose, its about making every moment full of purpose its about giving yourself purpose and finding your passions. That's what it's about and once I changed my thinking the clouds began to disappear. I know in the moment of darkness it doesn't feel like simply changing your thinking will do anything but next time you feel sad try it out take a step back and see what things you're telling yourself are actually true. Tell yourself that you have worth and there is so much you have to offer. I don't care who you are or what your walk of life is there is something you can offer to the world there is somebody who could use your love. 

    You might be asking what does this have to do with anxiety.... well a whole lot. We know that anxiety is defined as, "a feeling of worry, nervousness, or unease, typically about an imminent event or something with an uncertain outcome." Ok think about how many times have you had to talk in front of someone and the first thought that came to your head was I'm gonna look like an idiot or what if I mess up and say the wrong thing. I think we've all been there. That's a mild example of anxiety. We all have it and sometimes it's helpful, but sometimes it can be crrippling. I've been there where something as simple as making a phone call stresses me out to a point where it's not healthy. Why does it stress me out? Because I tell myself all the lies of what could go wrong. It goes back to the things I tell myself. If I constantly think about all the negative and bad things that COULD happen of course I'm going to be incredibly anxious and nervous who wouldn't be. Our brains process everything we think as truth so if we can simply learn to think a bit clearer and positively it will make our lives so much better. Next time think about all the things that could go right instead of all the things that could go wrong!

    Now don't get me wrong this takes a lot of work and it's not easy. There will still be those days or those situations, but learning to control our thoughts and the way we react to things will definitely bring a lot more joy into your life. Someone shared with me recently this, "It's not events that affect our emotions it's our thoughts about an effent that creates the emotions." I can promise you. I know without a doubt that there is a God who loves and cares about each and every one of us so deeply He wants us to find joy. He only gives us hard things to make us stronger and learn to rely on the power and grace that comes from His son Jesus Christ. I promise there are better happier days ahead don't stop fighting!