Category Archives: anger

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Managing Holiday Anxiety: 10 Tips Staying Calm and Enjoying The Season…

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. -Philippians 4:6-7

The holiday season, often associated with joy and celebration, can also bring about stress and anxiety for many individuals. With the hustle and bustle of shopping, social gatherings, and expectations, it’s common to feel overwhelmed. However, it’s important to take proactive steps to manage and minimize holiday anxiety to ensure a more enjoyable and peaceful season.

  1. Acknowledge Your Feelings:

Acknowledge that it’s okay to feel anxious or stressed during this time. The pressure to create perfect moments or meet unrealistic expectations can add to these feelings. Recognizing and accepting these emotions is the first step in addressing them.

  1. Set Realistic Expectations:

Avoid setting overly high expectations for yourself, others or the holidays. Understand that perfection is unattainable, and it’s okay if everything doesn’t go exactly as planned. Embrace imperfections and focus on the joy of the moment rather than aiming for flawless celebrations.

  1. Plan and Prioritize:

Create a manageable plan for the holiday season. List the tasks that need to be accomplished and prioritize them based on importance. Breaking down tasks into smaller, achievable steps can help prevent feeling overwhelmed by the enormity of the season.

  1. Practice Self-Care:

Amidst the chaos, prioritize self-care. Ensure you get enough sleep, maintain a healthy diet, exercise regularly, read spiritual literature and practice relaxation techniques such as prayer, meditation or deep breathing. Taking care of your spiritual, physical and mental well-being can significantly reduce feelings of anxiety.

  1. Set Boundaries:

Learn to say ‘no’ when necessary. It’s okay to decline invitations or requests that may add unnecessary stress to your life. Setting boundaries protects your mental and emotional health, allowing you to enjoy the holidays more fully.

  1. Focus on Meaningful Moments:

Redirect your focus from material aspects to meaningful experiences. Spend quality time with loved ones, engage in activities that bring joy, and participate in volunteering or acts of kindness. Connecting with others and giving back can add a deeper sense of fulfillment during the holidays.

  1. Budget Wisely:

Financial stress is a common trigger during the holidays. Set a realistic budget and stick to it. Consider alternatives to expensive gifts, such as homemade presents or organizing gift exchanges to reduce financial strain. Remember, it’s the thought that counts!

  1. Seek Support:

Don’t hesitate to seek support from friends, family, or a professional if you’re feeling overwhelmed. Sometimes sharing your feelings or seeking guidance can provide valuable perspective and alleviate anxiety. Every now and then, everyone needs to unload their truck!

  1. Reflect and Appreciate:

Take time to reflect on the positives of the holiday season. Practice gratitude for the moments, experiences, and people in your life. Gratitude can shift your focus from stressors to appreciation, fostering a more positive mindset.

  1. Enjoy Yourself!

In conclusion, while holiday anxiety is common, it’s possible to manage it effectively by setting realistic expectations, prioritizing self-care, focusing on meaningful moments, and seeking support when needed. By incorporating these strategies, you can navigate the holiday season with greater calmness, allowing yourself to truly enjoy the festive spirit and the real reason for the season.

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The Bait Of Bitterness!

One of the enemies greatest tools is distraction and the enemy knows how to use a host of negative emotions to get your eye, heart, mind and soul off of what matters and onto the wrong thing, The longer the devil can keep us focused on the wrong thing, the farther he can cause us to drift from God and His blessings.

One of the devils favorite negative emotions to use is bitterness. You know that one, right? The one that leaves you stewing in your own negative stew pot of one negative leading to another and another and another and before you know it you are stuck in a prison of your own making.

The Bible puts it this way in Ephesians 4:30-32: “30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31 Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. 32 And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.“

Bitterness if not dealt with will spread from our mind, to our heart, to our life and our living. It will impact in a negative way – who we are and what we do. Over time it will corrupt our spirit and dull our sensibility to the Holy Spirit of God, causing us to miss out on His gentle guidance into the sweet blessings that He created us for.

The thing about bitterness is not to ignore it and think it will go away, but to face it, confront it head on. Be honest with God about how you feel and what you are thinking, because He already knows anyway and then let His power do for you, what you can’t do for yourself. Let God set you free from the root of bitterness, by ripping that sucker out of your life, so that you will have room for the things that really matter.

Give God your negative and God will give you His positive and with God’s positive you can build the better life you were created for. Give God your bitterness and He will replace it with His peace and set you free for amazing blessings that words cannot describe…

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Dealing With Anger Before It Deals With You!

There is nothing wrong with getting angry, in fact it is a natural human response that indicates that something has annoyed, challenged or frustrated us. The problem with anger is when we allow it to take control and call the shots for us, often causing us to say or do something that we later regret and feel shame for.

9 Be not hasty in thy spirit to be angry: for anger resteth in the bosom of fools. -Ecclesiastes 7:9

So the big question is: How do I deal with anger before it deals with me? There are a lot of different things that we can try, bunt from my personal experience, there is not a one and done remedy and usually it takes a combinations of efforts to get untangled from the web that anger weaves.

The most important thing is to make a decision before you are angry that you are not ever going to allow anger to call the shots. This way, you go in from a strong place, which is much better than beginning from a place of weakness. Below are a few other ideas that will assist you in dealing with anger before it deals with you.

There is the famous “Count Method!” You can either count to ten or count backwards, but I have found that many times, this seems to get me a little more angry???

Take A Breath! In fact, take several deep breaths – in and out. Our breathing becomes shallow and rapid when we are angry and sometimes taking a moment to focus on and change our breathing works wonders in calming us down enough to get back our control.

Go For A Walk! Walking is one of the best things we can do for a lot of different things, but taking time to walk when we are angry allows us to process our thoughts and gives us some time to gain that control back that is so easily lost.

Stretch Your Frustration Away! When we get angry, our muscles tense up, tighten and we become a big ole ball of negative emotions. When we are in this state, it is very easy for us to say or do something that we are sure to regret later. Stretch it out – you will be glad you did!

Pray! That’s right, take some time to talk to God and also some time to listen to God. Prayer is powerful and God wants to help us be victorious in every area of our life, so just by making and taking the time to talk and listen to God, you are moving yourself to a higher level of living. It’s also a great idea to write in your journal, this gives you creative space to shake free of the entanglements of anger!

Practice Gratitude! This requires a major shift in gears, but if you make it, it will totally change things and fast, In fact, I keep a gratitude list in my head and heart of top blessing that I have in my life that help to remind me of the things that really matter. Thinking through this list gets me grateful and moves me to a better place quicker than almost anything else.

Now there are a thousand other ways to deal with anger before it deals with you. I encourage you to find your top three to five and have them in your arsenal, ready to draw whenever anger decides to raise it’s ugly head in your life. You’ve got this, because you were created for so much more!