{"id":702,"date":"2014-12-09T20:20:48","date_gmt":"2014-12-10T02:20:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/belovedlove.org\/reflections\/?p=702"},"modified":"2019-05-17T15:19:57","modified_gmt":"2019-05-17T20:19:57","slug":"escaping-twilight-zone-anxiety","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/belovedlove.org\/reflections\/2014\/12\/09\/escaping-twilight-zone-anxiety\/","title":{"rendered":"Escaping the Twilight Zone of Anxiety"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Escaping<\/a>by Lydia \u00a0Floren<\/p>\n

In the holiday season, it is easy to get stressed. \u00a0Anxiety can slip up on you–or just slam you– but it always keeps you from enjoying life.\u00a0 When we are anxious, we are fretful, not fruitful. We frown. We are easily annoyed. With all the activity and stress this time of year, it’s doubly important to recognize the signs that you may be entering the Twilight Zone of Anxiety.<\/p>\n

\u00a0It starts with The Coulds<\/strong>.<\/h2>\n

I think we all have a little ADD; it\u2019s hard not to get distracted, given the world we live in. \u00a0And any tendency our minds might have to wander, will kick into overdrive at the holidays. \u00a0We think about The Coulds.<\/p>\n

There are so many things we COULD do.\u00a0 We COULD entertain like Southern Living, decorate our homes like Architectural Digest, create gifts like Martha Stewart, dress like Vogue, bake cookies like Good Housekeeping.\u00a0 \u00a0We COULD attend the office party, the theatre production, the carol sing, the sleigh ride.\u00a0\u00a0 We COULD do all the things we didn\u2019t do last year, that we promised ourselves we would do \u201cnext year, for sure.\u201d \u00a0These \u201ccoulds\u201d don\u2019t order themselves into a neat list; they swirl around in our heads like a thick fog on a stormy night.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Then come The Shoulds<\/h2>\n

Once The Coulds are established, The Shoulds creep in<\/strong>.\u00a0 We SHOULD make this gift.\u00a0 We SHOULD call so-and-so.\u00a0 We SHOULD attend that event, buy this present, send that special card, call that person, volunteer for this cause. SHOULDS go very deep in our psychy.\u00a0 Beneath the layer of things we SHOULD DO, is the even more corrosive layer of the things we SHOULD BE<\/strong>.\u00a0 We SHOULD BE more loving, and patient, and thoughtful, and organized, and disciplined.\u00a0 Between the Coulds and the Shoulds, everything in our heads becomes a muddled mess.<\/p>\n

The Abyss of Never Enough<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Eventually, we are forced to face the fact that we don\u2019t have enough<\/strong>—of anything. \u00a0<\/strong>We don’t have enough\u00a0time, or energy, or resources, or even compassion–to do what we think we SHOULD do, much less what we COULD do. \u00a0At first we might complain (whine) \u201cif I just had more _______.\u201d\u00a0 Or we might try whipping those around us into action (usually less-than-enthusiastic family members), to help us get some of those Shoulds off our backs.\u00a0\u00a0 Finally we admit to ourselves: \u201cThere is never enough, and there is never going to be enough, of me to do all these Shoulds, no matter how hard I try.\u201d<\/p>\n

While this truth should be freeing, it is not. Not yet. \u00a0We aren’t finished sliding down into the pit, and we do this by saying to ourselves, \u201cSomehow this is all my fault. I SHOULD have done this, I SHOULD have planned that.\u201d\u00a0 We get frustrated, depressed, and twice as stressed, beating ourselves up for every missed opportunity, every less-than-perfect outcome. When we reach the SHOULDS of REGRET, we have tumbled headlong into the Abyss of NEVER ENOUGH<\/strong>.\u00a0 Here, we are truly at a standstill.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Escaping the Twilight Zone of Anxiety<\/h2>\n

The way to freedom from all this anxiety and stress is 180 dgrees opposite the busy road we have been traveling. \u00a0Our freedom comes when we decide to quit focusing on ourselves, and our little corner of the universe, and turn our eyes to Jesus.<\/strong> \u00a0\u00a0Jesus said \u201cI am the Way, the Truth, and the Life.\u00a0 No one comes to the Father but through me.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0 \u00a0When we spend our efforts connecting with the Maker of the Universe we get to know Truth\u2014in Person. \u00a0That Person also said “You shall know the Truth, and the Truth shall make you free.”<\/em><\/p>\n

I find when I choose to make time with God my top priority, everything changes.<\/strong>\u00a0 The fog clears. I start to see the world more from His perspective. The things I was worried about don\u2019t seem as important. And other things\u2014things that weren\u2019t even on my radar before\u2014take precedence. The hymnist Helen H. Lemmel expressed \u00a0it this way:<\/p>\n

Turn your eyes upon Jesus. \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Look full in His wonderful face, \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0and the things of earth will grow strangely dim, \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0in the light of His glory and grace.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The psalmist David said it another way:<\/p>\n

\u2026I waited patiently for the LORD; And He inclined to me and heard my cry.\u00a0<\/em>He brought me up out of the pit of destruction, out of the miry clay, And He set my feet upon a rock<\/strong> making my footsteps firm.<\/em>\u00a0<\/em>He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God\u2026\u00a0Isaiah 40:1-3<\/em><\/p>\n

What ways has God freed you? \u00a0We’d love to hear from you!<\/strong><\/p>\n

For more reflections about the holidays, check out \u00a0Perfect Holidays,<\/a> Shine your Heart<\/a>, or \u00a0 Crunch Time<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Lydia \u00a0Floren In the holiday season, it is easy to get stressed. \u00a0Anxiety can slip up on you–or just slam you– but it always keeps you from enjoying life.\u00a0 When we are anxious, we are fretful, not fruitful. We frown. We are easily annoyed. With all the activity and stress this time of year, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[453,465],"tags":[134,225,23,14,63],"class_list":["post-702","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-anxiety-depression","category-finding-freedom","tag-anxiety","tag-jesus","tag-perfectionism","tag-prayer-and-meditation","tag-waiting"],"yoast_head":"\nEscaping the Twilight Zone of Anxiety - Belovedlove<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Escaping the Twilight Zone of Anxiety is possible when we shift our focus from ourselves, and our Shoulds and Coulds, and focus on Jesus.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/belovedlove.org\/reflections\/2014\/12\/09\/escaping-twilight-zone-anxiety\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Escaping the Twilight Zone of Anxiety - 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