Transformation

I've been pondering a few things lately. Each week i seem to go through many highs and many lows, and also just float somewhere in the middle. I'm learning how to change my perspective regardless of circumstances. How can we get a better grasp on how we feel and think? How can we respond more positively than allowing negative emotions to get the best of us? I ask myself, "Who do i want to be?" "What does my best self look like?" "How can I move closer to being better?" "How can I glorify God and live for his desires?" "What changes in my life do I need to make?"

It's easy to spiral down in a negative slump. Naturally I tend to be pretty pessimistic, and often focus too much on my flaws. I'm critical on my interactions, mistakes and failures. Perfectionist are always trying to do things right and condemn themselves when they don't meet their expectations or perform the way they planned. Anyone can make goals, but how do we press forward to achieve them consistently and daily?

Some days I feel very empty, lonely, confused, angry, distracted, depressed, weak, broken, unorganized, lazy, slothful, tired, numb, apathetic, worthless, insignificant, unstable, restless, overwhelmed, stressed, dark, hopeless, stuck. Maybe some of you can relate. 

I live so much in my head I overthink and over analyze. Over introspection can lead to morbidity, gloom and despair. If we think about the past we can feel regret, guilt, shame, and depressed at what went wrong. If we ponder the unknown future, it can lead to fear, anxiety, worry, doubt, and uncertainty. We need to remember to live in the present and trust God with our past, present and future. 

When I am full of energy and at my best self, I feel healthy, confident, excited, hopeful, creative, grateful, outgoing, whole, content, strong, and close to God. We're meant to approach life with peaceful meaningful relationships. We can choose to be positive. Find hobbies you enjoy. Laugh, smile, play, create, build, draw, sing, dance, write, dream, and do the things you love.

Stress is a perceived lack of control. There are two main types of stress. External and Internal. External applies to things outside of our control. This could be things like natural disasters or something like traffic. These things are outside of our control and things that we can't change. Internal stressors are things we do have control of. This could be feeling unprepared for a test. We can control how to approach stressful situations. We can reduce stress by studying, by controlling our environment and energy level. Some stress is actually good because it moves us to respond. We respond to stress with fight, flight or freeze. Stress can also affect our health, our habits, and the chemicals in our brain.

There a few things we can do to counter stress, anxiety and feelings of depression. Beside pharmaceutical drugs, we can increase our exercise. Exercise is one of the greatest ways to counter these negative feelings because exercise refreshes and helps balance the neurotransmitters and helps us to control stress. Our bodies need to get in anaerobic and aerobic exercise. Similarly, breathing techniques help us balance our oxygen and carbon dioxide levels. That's why ppl breathe in a paper bag when they have a panic attack. It traps the carbon dioxide when our brain thinks we're lacking oxygen. Then there's meditation which can come in many different forms. Prayer, worship music and spending time with God can definitely affect how we deal with stress, anxiety and depression. Proper eating and sleeping habits can also affect our mood. And lastly, healthy relationships helps build positive affirmation and self-esteem. 

I think it's probably be beneficial for us millennials to disconnect from technology. It's easy to indulge and waste time on the couch watching tv, or spending too much time on our phones. We often completely miss connecting with others and enjoying God's creation.

I'm learning to try new things and to challenge myself. We can live in doubt, fear and live a safe comfortable life, or we can take risk to grow in the pursuit of our goals. I need to grow in more confidence, courage, and discipline. I need to take more initiative to stay focused on my goals. And as we pursue change, it will most likely require sacrifice and stepping outside of our comfort zone. Houses aren't built over night. We need to take small steps in the right direction, change our perspectives, and create better healthy habits.

What are we putting our time and money into? What are we investing into? what are our values? What do we yearn and long for? What do we think about most? For where our treasure is, there our heart will be also. Personally, we can do all these naturalistic self-help ways of growing and becoming our better selves. But at the core of deep change and spiritual formation is drawing closer to God. mkay bye