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| Dory's Neighbor? |
Fantasy and animated movies both for children and adults are currently big money-producing vehicles for film companies. Last year alone, the top two, Finding Dory and Captain America, grossed over $1 billion each! Perhaps the stimulating attraction is that in the end, all is well; utopia is restored.
True, there is so much wrong with the world of current events that watching the nightly news can throw us into a panic. There seems no end to any of it. So, walking into the movies and escaping for two hours may give us a tiny taste of a perfect world.
Dreaded Side-Effects
We all need a way to de-stress from the noise, confusion and aggravations of the day. Without learning how to create a habit of peace in our lives, we can expect many side effects from the disease of frustration. It’s sometimes difficult to understand where tension, distress, pressure, anxiety, depression and a whole host of others come from without the help of a professional.
But for right now in this place, let us be willing to find some ways to calm our souls. Each of us will have our own impressions of how to find what will work for us. Our family situations are different, our schedules are different, and our mindsets are different.
These are only a few suggestions used by many women as a means to just get started in finding peace. We’re ready for that, right? Remember, the goal is to de-stress and avoid life’s side effects.
Ahhh! Relaxation!
As a warm-up to our chosen method of relaxation (or any time anxiety grabs hold of us), this proven, quick breathing exercise really works: (a) Breathe in through the nose to a count of four (b) Hold it for four (c) Release it through the nose for a count of four. Repeat three times. It can truly lower blood pressure and immediately calms us. Now, let’s begin.
Journaling - so many people now take part in this enjoyable activity. We may think we don’t have the time for this, but we can all find five minutes in our day. And that’s all we need to experience the tremendous benefits that even doctors suggest for their patients.
After establishing this enjoyable habit, we will find we want to spend more time with it. The important thing is to do it every day and always at the same time. There are many different types and uses for journals. We suggest searching online (for example, Pinterest) or the local library for a description and helpful prompts and tips. So fun!
Mini De-stressors - ways of preventing stress could fill a book the size of War and Peace! So as a measure of getting the most from a small space, we have the following nine quick ideas:
- Create a fall door wreath
- Organize your photos
- Browse antique stores
- Take a bubble or scented oil bath
- Relax in a park, or near a stream/lake
- Visit the humane society for a new friend
- Practice doing crossword puzzles
- Pray, read the Bible or visit a church
- Help someone in need
Here’s the challenge: add six more to this list. Just do something good for yourself!
Why Do We Need Heaven?
We can escape stress in little ways. Yet while on this earth, we will always have troubles. If this world and everyone in it were perfect, we would have no need of heaven. Jesus promises to give us peace and assurance when He takes us to our Forever Home.
He is right now building us a mansion made out of sparkling jewels where our small and large troubles will be gone forever. Our tears and sorrows will be buried on earth. We can not see it now, but we can have faith and trust it will be just as Jesus promised.
"For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long...So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen…[that] will last forever.." 2 Corinthians 4:17-18 NLT.
Please note: the information in this article is not intended to replace treatments of any kind received from a medical doctor. Consider these ideas simply as a supplement to keeping our feet on the ground.
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