It seems modern psychology has just "hit" on something new and revolutionary. It is called positive psychology. Apostle Paul, however, was possibly the first person to talk indirectly about it and it is the core of what I feel has been a turning point for me. Apostle Paul wrote in Philippians 4 verse five and following "Do not be anxious about anything but in everything by prayer and petition with thanksgiving present your requests to God. The peace of God which transcends all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." Then in verse 8 we read "Finally my brother's whatever is true, what ever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely,whatever is admirable- if anything is excellent or praiseworthy- think on these things.
Is that cognitive behavioral therapy or what? I have had years of therapy to help restructure my negative thinking. Most of the time I was instructed to do this very thing. Think positively. I found, though, that when I would become overly anxious about anything and I really prayed about my anxiety I would notice a calm would come over me that was nothing like taking a pill. Pills have a half life or they wear off in time but when God instills a peace in my heart it stays.
The pills had a side effect. Usually it could be anything like a suicidal ideation. The very thing they were to help,actually, the medication could actually make worse. The anti psychotic medications were very hard on my body. They caused weight gain, diabetes, sometimes my balance was affected and I had serious falls. I will say though that when I became seriously depressed, the Lithium would erase those thoughts and it may have saved my life more than once. However, it always seemed we needed to fine tune these medications. Often an antidepressant would work for a period of time and then it would "poop out" It seems a med cocktail of sorts would work for awhile. Over the years I spent thousands of dollars on pills and therapy but nothing helped for long.
I feel a new freedom now and it is all because of the power of the Word of God to change lives. So many times His Word just jumps off the page to me and often when I pray before I study the Word I will discover a truth I never knew before.
I am so grateful to my Bible study gals for the past five years of in depth study. The homework we have each week causes alot of studying which many of us hardly ever do on our own and this has been so great. There is no other book ever written that has had such a profound effect on the lives of people of all cultures and for so many generations.
Monday, May 30, 2011
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Blue Skys From Now On
As I am blogging here at this moment in time the sky is the most captivating blue. There is hardly a cloud out there and that is so unusual for this spring. I am noticing my life too is clear and beautiful right now not a cloud in sight!
For many years I have been entangled in a bondage of DEPRESSION! The sky was always gray! Sometimes the fog of it all just enveloped my life. I saw nothing beyond my own need. I needed, and needed and no one person or thing could satisfy this deep need. I thought the need could be satisfied by SUPPORT SYSTEMS, the newest SRI like CYMBALTA or CELEXA!
How wrong I was! These things may have saved my life at one point in time but for the most part they just dulled my pain. God can do miracles through medicine I was in the medical field for years but the medical field could not necessarily heal my mood swings and depression.
I began attending a neighborhood Bible study five years ago and slowly through much digging through God's Word the Bible I began to see a gradual healing take place in my spirit and heart. It wasn't exactly one person, one expereince, one method of thinking that did it but it was one word. It was The Word that did it!
God's Word is ALIVE! God's Word HEALS!
So often when we have pain, we feel we must dull it, relieve it, anything but live through it. Pain to our way of thinking today, is evil. Really, it is not the pain that is evil but how we chose to deal with it.
There is so much I have learned through God's Word the Bible.
Just today in driving down the road and noticing the clear blue sky I could thank God that I now can see the beauty of the spring season. For many years it was only the fog. The drabness of a life filled with dispair and anxiety was all that I could think of. In my posts to follow I am gona blog the things I have learned. I want to teach you of the ahhhh haaa moments that have just totally blown me over.
My psychiatrist who has seen me wrapped up in all this for over ten years now has said the following to me. "I am so impressed with you, tell me what has made a difference in your life?" This is what I intend to do. Follow me, as I teach you what has made a difference in my life. No More Tangles is not just a hair product to take the tangles out of a little girls hair. No More Tangles is the product that has smoothened out my life which was hopelessly knotted up in negativity! The product is God's Word.
For many years I have been entangled in a bondage of DEPRESSION! The sky was always gray! Sometimes the fog of it all just enveloped my life. I saw nothing beyond my own need. I needed, and needed and no one person or thing could satisfy this deep need. I thought the need could be satisfied by SUPPORT SYSTEMS, the newest SRI like CYMBALTA or CELEXA!
How wrong I was! These things may have saved my life at one point in time but for the most part they just dulled my pain. God can do miracles through medicine I was in the medical field for years but the medical field could not necessarily heal my mood swings and depression.
I began attending a neighborhood Bible study five years ago and slowly through much digging through God's Word the Bible I began to see a gradual healing take place in my spirit and heart. It wasn't exactly one person, one expereince, one method of thinking that did it but it was one word. It was The Word that did it!
God's Word is ALIVE! God's Word HEALS!
So often when we have pain, we feel we must dull it, relieve it, anything but live through it. Pain to our way of thinking today, is evil. Really, it is not the pain that is evil but how we chose to deal with it.
There is so much I have learned through God's Word the Bible.
Just today in driving down the road and noticing the clear blue sky I could thank God that I now can see the beauty of the spring season. For many years it was only the fog. The drabness of a life filled with dispair and anxiety was all that I could think of. In my posts to follow I am gona blog the things I have learned. I want to teach you of the ahhhh haaa moments that have just totally blown me over.
My psychiatrist who has seen me wrapped up in all this for over ten years now has said the following to me. "I am so impressed with you, tell me what has made a difference in your life?" This is what I intend to do. Follow me, as I teach you what has made a difference in my life. No More Tangles is not just a hair product to take the tangles out of a little girls hair. No More Tangles is the product that has smoothened out my life which was hopelessly knotted up in negativity! The product is God's Word.
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