Ever felt like you've lost control over your feelings and your situation, and you just want to run away?

That's what my daughter did when she felt the most anxious she'd ever felt in her life.  She didn't know how to handle what she was feeling, so she ran.  She ran and ran for six miles, until she finally realized she couldn't outrun her anxious thoughts. Then she had a long, disappointing walk home.

The amazing thing was my daughter had never ran a mile in her life.  Anxiety does that to a person, though. It makes us so fearful, we can't think clearly. It can change us into wild-eyed, irrational people running for our lives.

So how do we deal with all of this worry?  How do we deal with the pounding heart rate, sweaty glands, and fearful thoughts?

According to my friend, we do something that's as old as the Bible itself:  we take our anxious thoughts captive. She calls it a "Recipe for Peace."  This recipe comes from Philippians 4 and it tells us that if we present our worries to God with thanksgiving, His peace will guard our hearts and minds. 

Here's how it works. Whenever you have a worry, you take that anxious thought and change it into a prayer of thanksgiving.  For example:



I'm afraid my boyfriend will break up with me.                         Thank you for bringing a nice guy into my life.                 
                                                                

I'll never get all of this work done.                                              I'm thankful I finished a sentence.  Help me express the                                                                                                                 rest of my thoughts clearly.  (This was my worry today.)
                                                                                                         
I'll never pass my class.                                                                I'm thankful I am able to go to school. I've passed other
                                                                                                          classes, so I know I have it in me. Help me understand.

I won't be able to graduate.                                                        I'm thankful my school has counselors and tutors who can
                                                                                                         help me meet my goal of graduating.                                         
My dad will never love me.                                                          I'm thankful I have a dad.  Many people don't. God, help us                                                                                                           find a way to repair our relationship.

I'll never be pretty.                                                                        I'm thankful to have friends and family who see my
                                                                                                         beauty and love me for who I am. God, help me to see in
                                                                                                         myself what they see.

The God who made you wants you to be healthy and filled with peace.  And so do I, my friend, so do I. Don't worry if you've never read the Bible or talked with God.  This recipe will work for you.  Wishing you peace for today and always.

Sometimes the battles in our lives are ones that rage within us.  Deep within our brain's gray folds, a war of words can take place:

You're not doing well.  
What a loser!
Everything is falling apart.
Are you going to eat that?

Unhealthy voices can strike with a vengeance, leaving us cowering and unable to hear the healthy voices within.

Battling these vicious thoughts can be a daily struggle for some of us, but that doesn't mean we are powerless to combat them.   The key to surviving these attacks is finding a way to amplify the healthy voices within us.

One way to key into our healthy voice is to share our experiences with a therapist or support group. With proper counsel, we can learn skills for dealing with the negative, as well as skills for developing positive reactions.

Surrounding ourselves with positive people is another way to combat these unhealthy thoughts.  Many times the negative thoughts we are having are reflective of our feelings and not reflective of the true situation.

​The truth is, with a little hard work and a lot of endurance, we can come through the struggle as victors. It all comes down to finding a way to support ourselves.  If we have a hard time keying into our positive self-talk, we need to find a strategy to help us do it.