Anxiety makes us ill in body, mind, and spirit. It can be ingrained in our nature from the moment we are born because of original sin.
Babies are not simply empty slates; they are complex little people who just happen to be preverbal. Babies are born with more than simply inherited physical characteristics but personalities and even inherited blessings and curses passed down through the generations.
Yes, my children came from the heart of God with a Divine spark in their souls. They have even spoken the Word of God to me as the most open soul in the room who could hear the whispers of the Holy Spirit within their spirits.
On the other hand, they are human beings with faults, weaknesses and even sin as part of who they are. Babies can worry and are often just as fearful as adults.
This is not simply an Old Testament teaching. With the help of a spiritual director and the light of Holy Spirit, I have faced and uprooted inherited stuff which triggered fear, anxiety, and mistrust for years both personally and with my kids.
Cognitive Therapy: Learning to do My Part
Although stuck in wretched circumstances, I still can change how I feel and how I think. Cognitive therapy is a powerful tool. I can often change my thoughts and focus on all the blessing in my life, instead of everything that is going wrong and my emotions change as well. For example, I still can see, hear, use all my limbs and I don’t have a chronic illness.
But what about the times when you simply cannot change your thoughts? When cognitive therapy does not work? When you can’t snap out of anxiety or panic?
Ron DiCianni
Worry feeds our panic over situations that are beyond our control. There are times when everything actually is even worse than it seems, times when our world really does shatter. What then?
Many times devastating circumstances have ended one way of life for our family with something new always rising out of the ashes.
The fact remains, though, I must still let go of worry and control, even though it goes against every fiber of my being. I must remind myself that God is God and I am not. I am simply His child. Since I love to steal God’s job and control, He often must shatter my safe little world because this is the only way I would step out of my comfort zone.
I had to learn to relax and patiently let the process unfold naturally since melodrama really did not help.
Cut Worry Off at the Knees
When I laugh at my mistakes, weakness and even my tragedies, I put my little life into perspective and I let Christ take over. He is God and I am not. I am simply His child, who can laugh in the face of tragedy because He is in charge.
There are a few quotes, which I have remembered for years and are key to my sanity. When I feel at my wit’s end, this quote makes me laugh and cuts through stress.
One in four people are mentally unbalanced.
Think of three friends.
If they seem fine, You’re the one.
I never fail to smile, even after reading these lines hundreds of times. This reaction pushes worry to the side. When I don’t take myself too seriously by entertaining the thought that I might be slightly unbalanced, I immediately stop over reacting. My worries are now put into perspective.
Laughter is the best way to snap out of melodrama.
Laughter puts every thing into perspective.
My family coined a phrase for crazy thinking that leads to stress. Repeat this phrase and once again laughter will put a stop to your running brain – guaranteed.
No more mental kung-fu
Can’t you just see your thoughts sparring with each other in a match that neither of them can ever win, especially in the middle of the night? Really, humans are so illogical, we are comical.
Although we can use laughter or cognitive therapy the truth is that prayer and Holy Scripture are the most powerful weapons against anxiety and stress. Listen to the Words of Jesus:
Matthew 6: 25 “That is why I tell you to not worry about every day, whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn’t life more than food and your body more than clothing? Look at the birds. They do not plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And are not you far more valuable to him than they are”?
I read these words over and over again, letting the words of Christ sink in deeply into my spirit, deeper than my thoughts. The words of Christ have the power to heal and change us.
I might as well give up. I wasnot designed to control everything and everyone.
So I might as well give up control and give God His job back.
When I accept that I am simply a child of God, nothing more, nothing less, then I can relax and TRUST.
Melanie Jean Juneau serves as the Editor in Chief of Catholic Stand. She is a mother of nine children who has edited her kid's university term papers for over a decade. She blogs at joy of nine9 and mother of nine9. Her writing is humorous and heart warming; thoughtful and thought-provoking. Part of her call and her witness is to write the truth about children, family, marriage and the sacredness of life. Melanie is the administrator of ACWB, a columnist at CatholicLane, CatholicStand, Catholic365 , CAPC, author of Echoes of the Divine and Oopsy Daisy, and coauthor of Love Rebel: Reclaiming Motherhood.
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4 thoughts on “No More Mental Kung-Fu”
Really, REALLY wise words as always Melanie! I’ve been recently inspired by so many awesome bloggers to get back to this very reason why I started my own blog. But this post says A LOT in so few words! God bless!
Love this article! Stress, anxiety and fear are firmly planted in me because my daughter and her two children came back to live with us. I had to quit my job to take care of the grandsons and my husband can’t retire till they can move out. My husband will be 70 next February. But talking and praying to Jesus and Mary in the Adoration Chapel lightens my heart and gives my mind peace because I know He is with me every step I take. I really could not go through this without Him! Jesus and Mary I love you so much!
joy of nine9 
Really, REALLY wise words as always Melanie! I’ve been recently inspired by so many awesome bloggers to get back to this very reason why I started my own blog. But this post says A LOT in so few words! God bless!
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I especially appreciate YOUR words of encouragement
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:>)
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Love this article! Stress, anxiety and fear are firmly planted in me because my daughter and her two children came back to live with us. I had to quit my job to take care of the grandsons and my husband can’t retire till they can move out. My husband will be 70 next February. But talking and praying to Jesus and Mary in the Adoration Chapel lightens my heart and gives my mind peace because I know He is with me every step I take. I really could not go through this without Him! Jesus and Mary I love you so much!
LikeLiked by 1 person