Purposeful Thoughts

Okay, so I'm taking these pillars out of order. The next pillar should be living foods (certainly an important topic), but we're going to discuss Pillar 7 - coping with stress. Lately, God has opened doors of opportunities for me in writing. Some worked out, some didn't. Last week, I got another assignment from a print publication and, while it's incredibly exciting, it's also scary.

Managing stress has never been my strong point. With every test, every paper, every new activity, my emotions get overwhelmed with a sense of anxiety. But my dream is to be an established freelance writer. Guess what that means? Deadlines. Unfamiliar topics. Cold calls. Interviews. Risk of failure. Mix them all together and they create a breeding ground for stress. Still, my dream outweighs my fear. I'm going to follow Joyce Meyer's advice and "do it afraid." These new opportunities may stir feelings of anxiety, but I'm going to pursue them anyway. I trust that the more I do that, the less anxiety I'll experience.

My goal then isn't to eliminate stressful situations but to effectively manage stress. Dr. Colbert lists a number of methods in the last section of his book "The Seven Pillars of Health." I'm going to share the ones that work for me.

In the evening, I would randomly remember an offense - a colleague who spoke rudely to me or a doctor who said the pain was all in my head. I clearly wasn't over them because I rehashed those conversations over and over, reliving it and practicing the way I wish I had responded. Dr. Colbert calls it "stewing in stress juices."  But as I laid down to fall asleep, my heart beat fast and hard, my mind raced and my skin flushed with the extra blood circulation, causing it to itch. I couldn't sleep because I allowed unforgiven offense to stew in my heart. The devil got a foothold, and pushed my stress buttons right before bed. Because I wasn't sleeping, I was tired, irritable and unfocused. Try to manage a crazy schedule effectively with no sleep - doesn't work well.

No one wronged me in a significant way, but small offenses took root in my heart and were stealing joy and sleep. Holding on to those offenses didn't hurt the people I was offended by - it only hurt me. I confessed them to the Lord and have been sleeping better every since. I have to be aware of my thoughts, purposely choosing not to dwell on offenses when they come. It's not easy, but it has already made a big difference.

I also have a tendency to subconsciously add unnecessary things to my to-do list. I want to watch Morning Glory, I want to read through the piles of health magazines littering my floor, or I notice the fire mantle needs to be redecorated. So now, even though I don't write it down on my list of things to accomplish, my mind recognizes those desires as undone tasks. I live in a feeling of always needing to do "more."

It goes back to the concept of awareness. I recognize my struggle in these areas, so I must be purposeful about changing my mental patterns toward them.

Do these seem unrelated to the opportunities I mentioned earlier? The point is they were draining mental, emotional and physical energy that I need to invest in pursuing more important things. It resulted in fatigue and procrastination, making school and writing more of a last-ditch effort. Not anymore!  

Divine Rest

In my last post, we talked about water as a foundational element for our health. The next pillar in Dr. Colbert’s book The Seven Pillars of Health is sleep. Did you know that when you sleep, your body is repairing and recharging itself? It’s amazing that even though we are physically shutting ourselves off from the rest of the world, our bodies are being incredibly productive. Your body needs that time of sleep and rest so that you can be capable of full mental and physical productivity while you are awake! Sleeping is the responsible thing to do – and all the tired people of the world rejoice!

If you are like me and have issues falling or staying asleep, Dr. Colbert offers a lot of helpful advice. Regular exercise (at least two or three hours before bedtime), natural supplements, a good mattress, a comfortable and dark room, and a consistent bedtime routine are examples. Some of those things help me (like a good mattress) but some don’t (the consistent bedtime routine), so it’s important to try them out and discover what works for you. I’m still trying out different ideas and praying that I will fall asleep quickly and sleep well.

Physical sleep restores your body so that it works at its maximum capacity, and inner rest restores your spirit and soul. Life is hard, and we are busy people. The stress of life takes its toll – and it’s almost always negative. In Matthew 11:28 - 30, Jesus said, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

When I read that verse at the beginning of 2010, it stirred a longing within me. I just wanted to be at rest. I was tired of this constant feeling of heaviness and pressure – like I should always be doing more. It became the basis for my new year’s goals for that year, and I sensed God calling me to simplify my life. I was half-engaged in a long list of activities, and I needed to finish them and let them go. So I did. I cut ties with a direct selling business and paid off the debt associated with it. I finished a book study with two wonderful high-school seniors who were preparing for college and completed the assignments for an experimental writing group.

I finished all the items on my list. Then God led me to start my graduate degree in journalism at Regent University. If I hadn’t let go of those other activities, there’s no way I would have the time to devote to school. I’m not spread out thin, involved in a wide variety of “good” things. My focus is simple but powerful.

What God calls us to do, He enables us to do. He called me to start school again (that’s a miracle story in and of itself), and He has given me the power and grace to do it thus far. AND it’s been enjoyable. I have to constantly evaluate my priorities, though, and ask God if He is calling me to do them. If you are struggling to do something, and you feel weary and drained of joy, you might want to evaluate your involvement. I realized no one person can do everything, so I determined to stop trying. Find the things God has gifted and called you to do, and then do them with excellence.

Come to Christ. Take up His yoke and find rest. Involve yourself in the activities He leads you to, and let go of the rest. You aren’t meant to live as a strained individual, but a joyful one. Rest is crucial to mental and physical restoration, so make it a priority!

“Unless the LORD builds the house, they labor in vain who build it; unless the LORD guards the city, the watchman stays awake in vain. It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows; for so He gives His beloved sleep.”                                                                      Psalm 127:1-2                                

Drink up!

The first pillar in Seven Pillars of Health by Dr. Don Colbert is water. Water is a foundational element of our body and proper hydration ensures that things work correctly. Dr. Colbert attributes dehydration to problems such as “headaches, back pains, arthritis, skin problems, digestive problems and other ailments.” Um, basically everything. He goes so far as to say that “water is the single most important nutrient for our bodies.”

He recommends that you take your weight in pounds and divide it by two. That’s how much water you should drink in ounces every day (so if you weigh 130 pounds, you should drink 65 ounces of water). I picked up a BPA free nalgene bottle at REI (BPA is a harmful ingredient found in some plastics). It holds 32 ounces of water, so I need to drink two nalgenes a day to reach my goal. It keeps it simple – I do well with simple. Water is a daily source of life. Literally. Now, let’s get into some figurative stuff.

I’m a journalism student, so I’m constantly learning about storytelling techniques and the importance of helping a reader “see” the message you’re trying to communicate. They need to experience it for themselves and see it through their own eyes. Jesus was a master at storytelling. Throughout the four gospel books (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) you’ll find scores of parables and metaphors, each representing spiritual truths.

One example is in John 4. Jesus got tired (what? Jesus got tired?) and sat down by a well. A Samaritan woman walked up and began to draw water. First of all, Jews didn’t talk to Samaritans. It wasn’t customary for them to talk with women either. So, when Jesus asked her for a drink (what? He got thirsty too?), I can picture the puzzled look on her face when she said, “How is it that You, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?”

Apparently Jesus saw this as an opportunity to share one of His metaphors. “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.” If He had said that to me, I would be confused too. She didn’t understand that He was speaking metaphorically, and she just asked him how He could get water if He didn’t have a bucket. Patiently, he answered her, “Whoever drinks this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.”

At this point, I think the Samaritan woman was getting it. “Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst, nor come here to draw.” Okay, maybe she didn’t totally get it. Jesus was saying that just as physical water is crucial to our survival, so a relationship with Christ is crucial to eternal life with God.

Sorry, you still need to drink about two quarts of water a day – there is no way around that. Water is the physical source of life. The Environmental Protection Agency says that the average person can live five to seven weeks without food but can’t last more than five days without water. Only through a relationship with Jesus Christ, the source of our spiritual life, can we experience eternal life.

In John 15, Jesus said, “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.” When we are plugged into Christ, we have a continual stream of nutrients and life pouring into us. We will naturally bear fruit when we are connected with the vine.

What does that mean for us? First, it means that we need a relationship with Jesus to be plugged into the source of spiritual life. It also means that we need to stay connected with Him. How do you maintain important relationships with the people in your life? You talk with them. You share your thoughts, your feelings, your fears and your dreams. You ask for help, and you give of yourself by serving. We maintain a relationship with Christ the same way.

When we build our relationship with Christ, we allow in a steady stream of living water to provide life and nutrients necessary to the healthy development of our spiritual lives.

So today (and the days hereafter), focus on drinking the right amount of water based on your weight. Also focus on your relationship with God through Christ, spending time each day to talk to Him, listen to Him and serve Him. The result? A fulfilling life!