|
|
|
| What Do I Feel? |
|
How To Conquer Fear |
Bad feelings come from negative thinking, and negative thinking comes from negative believing. Negative believing is developed over time and is influenced by the environment you associate with. Negative believing puts you at a disadvantage in that it causes you to react incorrectly to life's difficulties and thus adversely affects your emotional well-being. Responding incorrectly to life's challenges comes from 2 origins: 1) If you have a history of abuse in any form, be it verbal, physical, sexual or spiritual, you will be susceptible to incorrect perception of problems in your life, and this incorrect perception will subsequently cause you to react negatively to life's hardships. If this is the case in your life, depending on what the abuse was and how you responded to it, it may require that you to go through an inner healing process. This process is very common. If this is the case in your life, it is comforting to know that many people all around you are going through similar transitions in their lives and are coming out of it completely healed and able to continue living a happy productive life. As a matter of fact these people live a much happier life because they are now able to carry a message of hope to others who may be in similar circumstances that they once found themselves previously. There are many avenues to choose from in obtaining the counseling you feel you may need. You may meet personally with a minister, counselor, psychologist or psychiatrist. You may want to be counseled online by one of the certified counselors associated with this website. You may know of a friend or neighbor who has gone through a similar difficulty who might offer knowledge and support to the extent they are able. You may want to become a member of a support group, or enroll in an inner healing retreat weekend. There are also many self-help books and tapes available on the topic of inner healing as well, many of which are available for rent through this website. While teaching material is helpful, it is always best to have a support structure around you as well, who can encourage you along the way in your recovery. If you would like to discuss which options are good for you, we would be happy to comment from our perspective. 2) The other origin of incorrect responses to life's struggles comes from lack of knowledge, meaning that nobody ever taught you the proper handling of problems when they come up. There are many avenues for obtaining understanding of problem solving life's dilemmas such as: Listening to sermons from a good minister at a church service, meeting personally with a minister or counselor. You can also choose to meet with a person you respect and who is successful in life, and find out what their secrets are. You can also read books or listen to recordings on selected topics. Recordings (audio, CD, video or DVD) are available at most public libraries and can also be rented from this website.
One
of the consequences of seeing the world from an incorrect
perspective is that it affects the way we make decisions, to read an
article entitled "Why Do I Make Poor Choices?",
click here. Key Truths To Wellness Knowledge of the following truths are critical to understanding and enjoying good mental health. Please familiarize yourself with them, as they will be discussed throughout your journey to recovery. Truth #1 - The Truth of 'Opposites' All through life it is evident that there are opposites. For example: Right and wrong, hot and cold, love and hate, high and low, truth and lies, positive and negative, life and death, poverty and prosperity, forgiveness and vengeance, good and bad. If you were to carry this absolute into the spiritual realm, you would get this: If you believe there is an all good, all knowing, all powerful creative force which we will call God, you would have to agree that there must be an equally, ever-present, evil force trying to steal, kill and destroy life. If you base your spiritual opposite-absolute on the writings of the Bible, you would get this: You have a positive, loving, life-giving God who wants you to be alive, healthy, happy and prosperous, and you have a negative, hating, sinister force called Satan who wants to steal, injure and kill. A force that will do anything to steal anything you have, including your peace and emotional well-being, your finances, your physical health, everything you have is open game!
Many
people believe there is an all powerful force that created this
world, but they have difficulty believing that there is an opposite
force trying to disrupt life. So what happens is, God gets blamed
for all the wicked things in the world. Is that fair? God creates
the world and people so He could have companionship with them, but
in order that He didn't end up with a bunch of robots, He gives them
a free will so they have to choose to love Him. He creates them with
a soul (mind, will and emotions). Man has a choice to either pursue
good with his life (and hopefully include God in his life), or he
can choose to do wrong with his life, and live only to satisfy his
own selfish desires. Choosing to live our own life without the
intervention of God opens us up to evil possibilities, such as
terrorist attacks and wars. It is sad, but man has the ability to
carry out a lot of wickedness, and only the prayers of good people
can change the way those plans get carried out.
All
through life you are given the freedom to choose. Choosing wisely
gives you more freedom. Choosing unwisely reduces your freedom.
Everything in life requires a choice. The situation you are in
today, in most cases is a direct result of the choices you made in
the past. Many things affect our choices, so it is best to be
careful what you allow in your life that could have an adverse
effect on your decision-making process. This can even be carried
over into the realm of emotional well-being. It isn't what happens
to us that makes us unhappy, it is how we respond to it, that
determines our well-being. You can choose to see the bright side, or
you can choose to see the negative side. Seeing the bright side
sometimes takes more effort, but it is worth it. Everything in life
requires a decision, and our choices affect those around us. Also see 'Why Do I Make Poor Choices?'
There is a physical law that says, "What you sow is what you will
reap." If you sow a bean seed, you will get a bean plant. If you
plant an acorn, you'll get an oak tree. If you show kindness to
people, you will usually be shown kindness in return. If you subject
yourself to visual and audio stimuli that is negative you will more
than likely be subjected to negative feelings. If something happens
to you that is negative, and you brood over it for any length of
time, you will more than likely be subjected to negative feelings.
If you make an effort to allow positive stimuli affect your senses,
ie. sight, sound, smelling, tasting and feeling you will more than
likely, automatically, have positive feelings.
You Have Friends One of the new friends you will meet on your journey to recovery, is somebody that up until now has been your worst enemy, that being you. The Bible gives us a crisp example of how we are to react when being overwhelmed by life's problems. There is a story in 1Samuel 30, where it describes a situation where King David returns after a battle, only to find that while they were at war, another army came to their camp and stole all the women and children, and all of their belongings. All of his men were deeply saddened of their loss, and in fact were going to stone David. Out of this situation came a very good piece of advice to all who find themselves in a difficult situation. The end of verse 6 says, "...but David encouraged himself in the Lord His God." Indeed, when you are in trouble, the last thing you need is for you, yourself, to heap guilt, self-pity and judgments on yourself. But what do most people do? They beat themselves up more. That has to stop. Yes, you may have caused the problem, but that is normal when you consider we are only human, prone to mistakes. That is no reason to start crucifying yourself. At that point, you need all the help you can get! The very first person you need on your side is yourself. So, it may have been a while since you've met the positive side of you, but don't be shy, give yourself a big hug :). Seriously though, you can show support to yourself in a really easy, but helpful, way. Latch onto the most important piece of weaponry you possess, your spoken words. Begin to use your mouth, and speak positive affirmations about yourself, out loud, so that you can hear yourself. When I was in the depth of my depression, I began speaking favorite Bible verses to myself, and within 2 weeks I was back in the work force, and even began dating my wife. That act of faith, builds inner stamina, and actually brings all of heaven at your disposal. The more you do it, the more you believe it, and the more you believe it, the more of heaven is at your beck and call. If you are interested in making use of your God-given weapon, we have faith-statements or prayers available that can help you change both yourself and your circumstances. So start speaking! By the way, King David ended up getting back all their armies loved ones, as well as of his stuff back. So, do what David did, 'encourage yourself in the Lord', and watch your feelings and your circumstances snap back in place!
You Have Enemies! Another enemy is Satan. Up until now you thought it was God who was your enemy, but you've learned the truth. God is your best friend. Your most despised enemy is Satan. Develop an healthy respect for him, he is way more clever than you, way more patient than you, and way more passionate about his work than you. In all accounts you are outnumbered. But you can learn what his strategies are in taking down people, and yourself, in particular. Once you know, you can be prepared. Like the old saying that says, "To be forewarned, is to be forearmed." Don't be caught unawares. Do your homework. Find out what is happening in the spirit world. Find out what spiritual weapons are at your disposal. Study. Listen. Observe. Learn. You stay in the drivers seat in your life. Don't let the enemies in your life regain control. Build yourself up. You may only be 4'-9" on the outside, but you can be 10' tall on the inside! Work at it. Be diligent. Be determined to make up for lost time. Don't quit until you've got life by the tale, and it becomes easy.
So,
know your enemies. Know who your friends are. Make use of all that's
available to help you, until you get back on top. We'll be here, if
you need any coaching along the way. Lies That Hold Us Back The information at the top of the page describes what influences a person to see life from an incorrect perspective. Below, we will reveal a few of the actual lies that you may be inadvertently believing, which is causing your emotional pain. We will be updating this list as we go. If you see any lies as possibly affecting you, we can talk about them. If you are on an 'Email-a-Day' program, you can initiate a conversation on any of the lies below, please click on the Lie number.
Personal - (PE)
Still want to go ahead with the
cosmetic surgery. Joan says, "Think
twice."
Friendships -
(PE)
Love - (LO)
Marriage - (MA)
Employment - (EM)
Emotional
Well-being (EW)
Religion - (RE)
Finances - (FI)
Family - (FA)
Intellect - (IN)
Health - (HE)
Things - (TH)
Leisure - (LE)
|