Who knew two weeks ago that our world would be turned upside down and social distancing would be a normal term? Our finances, our health, day-to-day routines, the way we go to church, and for goodness sakes, even grocery shopping is not the same. Every aspect of life right now has changed. Little did we know that this would be a precious commodity and we should have bought stock in Charmin. The truth of the matter is this: it’s a real pandemic that has caused lots of stress and fear.
Fear can be a big problem. In fact, I believe fear can paralyze you. It’s easy to be afraid of the unknown, afraid that you’re not going to have enough money to pay your bills, afraid you’ll never get your job back, and afraid you’ll get infected.
If you’ve ever heard me speak, many times I do an illusion. In particular, I often do a trick which makes my head look like it’s growing big. Does my head really get big? Of course not; it’s an illusion. An illusion is a trick on your brain. It makes you see something that is not there, or visa versa. The illusion makes you think my head grows out of proportion.
This is the deal--fear blows things out of proportion. Fear will make problems bigger than what they really are. If we let our minds feed that fear, then fear will cause us to worry, have anxiety attacks, lose sleep, and even hoard toilet paper.
During this pandemic, don’t allow your mind to be filled with fear and don’t let fear blow things out of proportion. I want you to stay cool, calm, and collected.
Fear causes stress. I like this quote by Laura Stack, “Stress occurs when the demands of a situation exceed your perceived ability to control them. The key is that the more you perceive you can control, the lower your stress level.”
Stay in control when you’re at the grocery store; stay in control at home with all the people you’ve been cooped up with for the last few weeks. As Elsa sings, we are all in the unknown; this is all new to all of us.
So, If you find yourself becoming fearful, find what you can control.
Let me give you 5 things you can control:
1. You can control your breathing
2. You can control how much you watch the news
3. You can control your thoughts
4. You can control how you react to the new circumstances
5. You can control the fact that you can just shut your eyes and pray.
So I leave you with this….as a person of faith, I rely on this book to help me through each day and not be fearful. So I’m going to leave you with a few scriptures.
John 14:27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. Do not let your heart be troubled and do not be afraid.
Psalm 118:6 The Lord is with me; I will not be afraid.
Don’t allow fear to paralyze you.
My name is Desi and I'm The Attitude Adjuster