Seeking Balance to Live Life (Part 2)

This is a continuation of last week’s post on Seeking Balance to Live Life.

Assess the threat.  Is the threat realistic or more in our own minds?  Mark Twain said “I’ve lived a long and horrible life, and most of it never happened.”  Our minds are often the true battlefield wherein we struggle.  We magnify perceived threats, demand impossible perfection from ourselves for fear of rejection, minimize our own strengths, and so on.

Reflect on Proverbs 28:1-2; Ephesians 6:10-12
“For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline.” II Timothy 1:7

“But examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good; abstain from every form of evil.” I Thessalonians 5:21-22

Resolve memories.  When we do get attacked and injured, the memory of it is often where people become stuck.  We can relive the experience over and over, even in nightmares.  Instead, face those memories, grieve what needs grieving, confront what needs confronting, and seek resolution so that you may live in the present.  Let go of labels about yourself that hold you back.

Reflect on Exodus 1:14; Ruth 1:20
The heart knows its own bitterness,
And a stranger does not share its joy. Proverbs 14:10

Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you. Ephesians 4:31-32

Breathe.  Focusing and taking charge of your breathing connects the deep limbic system with the conscious, thinking part of the brain.  You can slow your breaths to six breaths a minute, five seconds in and five seconds out, for example.  We can also consider how God breathed life into us and has given us this gift of life.

Reflect on  Proverbs 14:30; Genesis 2:7; Ecclesiastes 3:21; Psalm 150:6

“And when He had said this, He breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” John 20:22

Choose your valued direction.  There are many roads from which to choose, so consider your values and beliefs, and choose wisely.  Move in that direction, allowing it to energize you.  It is a continuing process.  Remember, you are living life, contributing to the world.  Commit yourself to ongoing action, knowing life is not a destination, but a journey.

Reflect on: Elisha in II Kings 2:9; Titus 2:14

“For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them. “ Ephesians 2:10;

“Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are varieties of ministries, and the same Lord.  There are varieties of effects, but the same God who works all things in all persons.  But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.” I Corinthians 12:4-7

Next week we will finish up Seeking Balance to Live Life.

Modified from article originally written for the Hammonton Gazette, March 2019.