5 Steps to Take When You Are Stressed

                                                  

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your request to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 4:6&7).

Steps to take when you are stressed:

1. Pray - Prayer is talking and listening to God. Talk through your situation with God in a detailed conversation. Tell Him exactly how you feel and be honest, he can take it. This is a part of having a relationship with Him looks like. You are doing this to get everything off your chest. Now you have to put the prayer in submittance to God.

2. Petition - A petition is a humble prayer that comes into agreement with what the word of God says. It is asking with knowledge of the truth, the word, and asking for what you want within His word and within his will.  Humbly ask for what you want this time. Meaning tell God you want what He wants for you. Again, be honest with God with your desires, but make sure your wants line up with scripture. Look up the scriptures, if you need to, having to deal with your situation and repeat it back to Him, and then surrender it to Him.

3. Surrender it to God - When you surrender what you want to God you should feel a release. You could be stressed because what you are doing is outside the will of God or there is a problem in the way you are going about doing it.  Now, trust Him with the problem or situation, and tell Him, and mean it, "not my will, but let your will be done." Meaning you know that God knows what is best for you, so you want the outcome that He wants. 

4. Gratitude - Thank God and know that everything will work out for your good. Thanking God is trusting that you know everything will be ok and it expresses gratitude for where you are in the present and trusting God for where you are going to be. You can express gratitude by praising Him with singing, dancing, worship, etc. 

5. Peace - Now you should have peace because you have received a word from God, instruction from God, a release from reading scripture, or a peace that is beyond your understanding. 

Now maintain your peace and focus on God, and keep your focus off the problem by praising and worshiping God, do something you enjoy doing, serve, help others, pray for others, or whatever you are led to do, and maintain a mental and emotional state of rest. Repeat these steps when need. 

An example is in the book, More Than Enough: Claiming Space for Who You Are (No Matter What They Say) by Elaine Welteroth, Elaine was in high school, and she got her heart broken by a boyfriend. She was praying and she heard a voice that reassured her and gave her peace that she will have love one day. 

Another example is in the book, Believe It by Jamie Kern Lima. Jamie was stressed out because she couldn't find proof that she owned her makeup formula when she was in the midst of selling her makeup company, IT Cosmetics, to L'OReal. She told her lawyers and team that she would pray about it and that night she prayed about it and went to sleep and the next day they found the contract. They were surprised her prayer worked and the formula rights were found. (Who knows, she might have helped convert someone into a believer that day).

Unfortunately, stress is one of those things that we all as humans experience at one time or another. If you haven't you probably will, I hope not, but you probably will. There are all kinds of reasons that cause stress like: work, school, relationships, or a combination of them. Stress is usually caused by something that is happening on the inside and if marinated long enough it can manifest itself on the outside. For example, when I was stressed in law school, I began to get these marks on my skin that I did not know where they came from at the time. Now I assume they were stress manifesting itself outwardly. In addition, I have lost and gained weight due to stress. My first year I was obsessively studying to the point I grew weary and stressed. I lost my appetite, and I wasn't eating. This is similar to Elaine Welteroth, in her book More Than Enough, I was just telling you about. I think Elaine was working at Teen Vogue at the time, she was working so hard that she wasn't eating, and she lost a lot of weight.

Another example is when I gained weight, I was studying for the bar exam. I was continuously and mindlessly snacking and sitting all day. This is similar to Jamie Kern Lima in, Believe It, the other book I was telling you about. She was working nonstop on her cosmetic business, and she gained weight due to eating out a lot. She got hives, raised welts, on her face and body, and the stress caused her to have some memory loss. She was hardly moving, according to her Fitbit, she was only taking two hundred steps a day. You have to find balance and step away from whatever it is that is causing you stress. To help release some tension in your body do some kind of exercise. 

Ways to relieve stress and tension. 

• Exercise 

I saw this Chris Pratt video and he gave some words of wisdom that is an example of what I'm explaining. He said he was feeling stressed, and he worked out, even though he didn't feel like it, and listened to some Christian music and he felt better. Exercise can be a release for all that built up tension in your body. Find an exercise that you like and motivates you and get up and do it! One good way to have fun and exercise is to dance. With dancing you can get creative and put on your own personal concert with your dance moves while jamming to your favorite singing artist.  

•  Sing 

Singing is another way that can help you release tension that comes from stress. You can belt out high notes as if you are screaming or shouting and let out all that is bothering you while trying not to think about the problem. Be mindful not to pick a song to sing that reminds you about what you are stressed out about in the first place. If you just went through a tough break-up don't go and listen to a sad, sappy song. Choose something upbeat that gets you out of the dumps. I was reading, Grammy and Oscar winner, Will Smith's book, Will by Will Smith, he talked about how he wrote the song "Summertime". He explained, while listening to the music the lyrics just flowed out of him. On could argue, that was the power of the Holy Spirit working through him to write that song. I think God is bigger than the box we try to put Him in, and I think He can be found in other genres of music other than gospel or Christian music. I believe that some love songs, in other genres of music, the artist is singing about God without saying His name. When seemingly the artist is talking about love between a man and a woman the love is so perfect with no pride and the love is so selfless it sounds like the artist is talking about a love from God, or it sounds like they are singing a song as if God is speaking or singing through the artist to the listener. Anyway, like I was saying singing is a good way to release stress, so is writing.

• Write it down

A lot of song writers say that writing a song is like therapy for them; this goes for poetry writers as well. Personally, when I make myself just sit down and write out what I am feeling in a journal I feel a million times better afterwards. The hardest part is just doing it; to just stop what you are doing and stop overthinking it and start writing. Write down your feelings and what you are stressed out about and how it is making you feel. If writing isn't for you, talk to someone.

• Talk it out 

 Talk to a therapist, counselor, or a trusted friend or family member. If you don't have someone to talk it out with talk to Jesus again as you did when you prayed about it before. I know this may seem like you are rehashing the problem but sometimes you just need to get it out of you again because new scenarios or different angles may have popped up in your head that your brain just wants to analyze. This is ok, the Bible tells us to continually pray in first Thessalonians 5:16; it also says to give thanks in everything. So, after you have got everything off your chest again give thanks and change the channel in your mind by getting creative. 

Ways to focus and get your mind off the cause of the problem.

• Be Creative 

Some examples of getting creative are arts and crafts like painting, knitting, sewing, drawing, or coloring in a coloring book if you can't draw, or even if you can. This is just a few ideas. You know what your creative hobbies are. If you don't have a hobby, just start trying something new to see what you are good at or enjoy doing. Being creative puts you in the present and allows you to stay in the present and focus without your mind wandering. You will be focus on what you are doing because you will be creating. I don't know if when I said color threw you off. There was this short craze, if you remember, about adult coloring books one time. I tried coloring in a coloring book when I was stressed and trying to get my mind off my problems, and it really worked. It was truly effective. Another idea that is effective with keeping your mind from wandering and focusing on the task at hand is reading. 

•  Read

Reading is a good way to get your mind off your problems. Preferably, I would recommend reading the Holy Bible. Reading forces you to be in the present because you have to comprehend what you are reading. Reading helps you escape the present. I'm not a big fiction reader but I think fiction can take you somewhere else. Autobiographies and biographies can be interesting, inspiring, and even relatable at times. It helps you get your mind off you and put your thoughts elsewhere. Serving or helping others helps you do this as well. 

• Serve 

One of the best ways to get your mind off yourself and your own problems is to help someone. It could be as simple as just listening to someone or giving them advice or your opinion when it is asked for.  You could help someone elderly or someone in need to clean, cook, or whatever they need help with. Surprise someone like your grandmother, grandfather, or someone who is old or lonely and take them out for a quick movie, coffee, or lunch/dinner, or a combination of them. After the movie, you could have lunch or dinner, whatever time of day you are out, and get some laughs or convo in by talking about the movie you just saw or skip the movie and talk about your favorite tv show you binged last weekend. Be careful to warn of any spoilers if your company hasn't seen it yet if they intend to watch it, unless they don't mind. If you are the listener let them know you don't want them to spoil the show for you if you intend to watch it later, unless you are like me and don't mind spoilers. If you aren't like me and you don't like spoilers, consider making an exception because you are trying to keep your mind off your problems so a spoiler might not be so bad. 

Along with these actions give thanks to God, Jesus Christ, and you will maintain the peace that has been given to you. 

Thank you for reading this article I hope you found it helpful and informative. 

List of products found in this article. 

Please note: Paid links are included in this article. "As an Ebay Partner I earn from qualifying purchases." 

 

1. More Than Enough: Claiming Space for Who You Are (No Matter What They Say) by Elaine Welteroth - More Than Enough, was so good I didn't want to put it down. Elaine talked about her life journey in love and her career. If you are looking for a good read by a terrific writer this is a good choice.

2. Believe It by Jamie Kern Lima -  I enjoyed reading the lessons and obstacles Jamie had to go through to get to where she is now. She is a hard worker and a resilient person. You should read this book to help inspire you to go after your goals and don't give up. To see what I mean for yourself get it here. 

 3. Will by Will Smith - This book is such a good read. Will talks about love, life, his career and give lessons he learned from it all throughout the book. He won a grammy for "Summertime" for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group in 1992. You can search for the song here in different formats even tapes or cd's if you are into collectibles or listening to your music retro. 

 

4.Fitbit watch - A Fitbit is useful in assisting with your exercise goals and routine.  To get help counting your steps for a healthier lifestyle click here to get a Fitbit watch on Ebay or here for a Fitbit book for more information on them.

5.  Journals - In addition to releasing your stress, journals are great for record keeping, thoughts, help with anxiety, downloads from God, and so much more. 

6.  Links for materials on ways to be creative: painting, knitting, sewing, drawing, coloring supplies, coloring books.

7. The Holy Bible - I know you already have one of these but if you need a new one in a different version or study materials click here to check out what is available.