It is 14 days until Christmas.  It’s the second week in Advent and the 8th Day of Hanukkah. December 10th 2018.  Are you ready? Did I just raise your anxiety level by 110%? Are you feeling “stress” about all the things left to do? What thoughts and visions are going through your mind today?  I am pretty sure they are not visions of sugar plums!  Whatever is going on in your mind right now, and whatever circumstance you are in, I assure you that you can decide what you will  think about it.

“But you don’t know my situation!”, you may proclaim.  “You have no idea the test results I just got”, you lament. “You can’t imagine what my family is like!” you shout.  Ah, this is true.  I do not know any of that.  And I do know that some situations are easier to navigate than others.  Who can bear the loss of a child, the loss of a home, the endurance of physical abuse, the terror of no work in sight?  Some of life’s journey may seem too much to bear. But take heart, the good news is that we are not the victim of our situations, or stations in life.  We were created with great resiliency to reframe, reformate and take captive every thought to face every situation with courage and hope.

My daughter-in-law and I just returned from Dr. Caroline Leaf’s annual conference about thinking and the brain.  Did you know that your mind can change your brain? 

I was trying to fall asleep last night when my mind began to “spin”.  I think you know what I mean by that, but just in case you don’t let me describe it a bit.  One thought starts, “How am I going to get all this shopping done and travel between Thanksgiving and Christmas?”.   “How many cards am I sending?” “I wonder, if those bigger envelopes need more postage?” “How can I be thinking of this when my friend’s house burned to the ground 2 weeks ago- she and her whole city!” “What am I going to wear to get my hair cut tomorrow?”  “What can I do about the refugees in Afghanistan?” “Should we drive to our cousin’s house on Thanksgiving Day even though it’s raining?” What will I wear to my granddaughter’s recital in 2 weeks?”  etc. etc. Finally the voice calms, I rehearse “The Lord is my Shepherd…” 10-15 times and I seem to hear a faint:  “Be Still…” in the recesses of my mind.

We all talk about peace. We long for it.  I want “peace” with the people in my family, the people in my neighborhood, my husband, the folks in my church, my kids and I long for peace in my heart.

“What made me do that?” Have you ever lamented this internal phrase? Have you ever felt that there is something sinister lurking inside that is really not You?

When the Apostle Paul shares in the book of Romans that he is “doing the very thing that I hate”, he carries on about knowing what to do and not doing it…wanting to do something and doing another thing… then finally laments, “oh, wretched man that I am!”  What makes us do what we do, even when we want to do something or say something different?

Most of us know about the fight, flight or freeze response to pain or danger (perceived or real), but most of us are not aware that there is a limbic response going on in most of the actions we choose to take.  Perhaps we could say, all? Someone will say something that may “trigger” a response in us to say or do something in defense, even though we know we are not really in eminent danger.  I admit that my husband may say or do something quite innocent and non-threatening in his mind and yet I feel an instant reaction in my stomach, my chest or my jaw that I am being attacked or at the very least un-cared for.