It is easy to change your clothes, what you eat, and your home decor with the different seasons of Fall/ Halloween/ Thanksgiving, Winter/ Christmas, New Years, Spring/ Easter, and Summer. Sometimes life doesn’t always change with the season of the year. Life has its own thoughts on bringing in new beginnings and closure from whatever needs to end. Habits are made and broken. Weight is gained and lost. School starts and ends. Relationships begin and break off. Kids grow up eventually. Home changes as people come and go whether it is for a short visit or a longer stay. Stuff changes, and that is okay.
Getting stuck is never fun. Occasionally we get stuck in a season that we don’t know how to change, if change is needed, or what to do next. No matter what “season” you find yourself in today, the following are some tools that I am using to keep my current season a positive one. I am not ignoring the ongoing pandemic, I am choosing to not let it run my life choices. I know that there will be an end whether it is while I am still here on earth or up in heaven, one day this pandemic will be over. I want to look back and see that I lived a happy life in the midst of the crazy. I know there is no promise of life being easy, but there is a promise of being loved, and having gifts which includes an eternal home. For those reasons, I am have learned how to let go of earthly anxiety, figure out how to live in my now, and enjoy the time I have here. Change is inevitable.
What you think or feel about the changes is your answer to figuring out what matters. Are you welcoming the changes? Are they more sudden than you are prepared for? Will you be ready for what’s next? How can you make sure the next change is positive? You are not alone in having questions, thinking thoughts, and feeling you feelings. Everyone has questions, thoughts, and feelings. We do not all choose to write blogs, make a TikTok or social media post about them, but we all have to deal with our reality one way or another.
I have been practicing noticing what I am feeling. Naming what I am feeling gives me power over the feeling rather than letting the feeling control what I do next. When I take control of my feeling I am able to see ways to get through it and move on. It is good to practice being with the feeling before moving on. Compartmentalizing is a trick that can only last for so long and is going to explode in all the wrong places. In order to avoid exploding where you don’t want to, you need to feel your feelings, and start asking questions.
Once I know what I am feeling I ask myself, “Why am I feeling this way?” “What initiated this change in my attitude?” – In order to ask these questions and get answers, I do have to step outside of where I am and what I am doing to get a bird’s eye view on the situation I have gotten myself in. It is not always easy to do. Once I figure out what and why, I can figure out how to change my predicament. I wont be able to make a lasting change unless I have figured out the root of the cause of negative feeling. This is not something you can do for someone else’s feelings, they have to learn to do this for themselves. We can teach children this by asking them questions as we assist them to figure out why they are upset and find a solution. It will just take time to practice as it does for adults, too.
After we identify what we are feeling and ask some questions to figure out why we are feeling the feelings, we can make healthy thought patterns to make a lasting change in our mindset. The first two steps are a lot easier than this last one. After practicing for multiple weeks myself I have seen and felt progress, but I do not have this down yet. I will continue to learn, practice and repeat, and I hope that you do, too! Pay attention when things are going right for once and acknowledge those patterns so that you can repeat them! In time positive responses will come first rather than negative thoughts.
The best way that I have found to help me get through tough days is like they say in the Big Brother House “Expect the Unexpected.” – I can still be surprised about good things, I just figure out a way to fix or move around the things that don’t work in a moments notice. Changing my outlook has helped shift my perspectives and keeps my mind open to possibilities and solutions.
God does not promise an easy life. In the New Testament you can read stories of what happened to Jesus’ friends after His return to heaven. Many of them spent time in jail. Some of them were let out by angels. All but one of them were killed for their mission of telling others about Jesus. So many of them faced many difficulties, but they kept a positive attitude and sang songs to remind them about the bigger picture of heaven. Most of us will not be murdered for loving Jesus. Some of us will. All of us will face difficulties and can learn from Jesus’ friends on how to praise God during those trials. How to keep heaven at the forefront of our thoughts and actions.
My prayer is that you, too, can find ways to name your emotions, ask yourself why you are feeling down, find an answer, and figure out how to cope with the trials of this world. I pray you learn about heaven, Jesus and Jesus’ friends by reading the Bible for yourself. Keep your faith in mind and your actions will start to match. Give yourself grace as God does and talk to people in your community about what you have discovered so that you can learn from each other. I have learned all of this in the time spans of three to five months. I was not cured of anxiety over night without any work. Do the work. Change your mindset The result is worth it!
Blessings on your journey onto the next season. May it be a positive one. -Em
A Time for... Everything 
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