So, we are moving 8 hours away within the next few weeks - which means CHANGE. Full on, racing forward at the speed of light, life changes. Oh, how I need change as much as I find it difficult. Change can mean success or it can mean defeat. I need change in my life because I intend to lead a successful life. I intend to lead a life that glorifies my King in spite of the challenges I may and do face. Stagnant waters never create smoothly polished stones and I certainly need a lot of polishing!
Change also means a time-sensitive need for successful coping. How can I manage that? When my life feels out of control is when I need to seize control the most. Managing my diet(eating nourishing foods, avoiding emotional eating), activity levels (exercise and daily goals/accomplishments), social interactions (intensity and frequency based on emotional needs), attitude (thinking positively, having an attitude of consistent thankfulness, etc), prayer life, and communication with my support system is very important. It’s vital that I manage that list as best I can because it helps me minimize mood escalation and helps me cope! Controlling what I can really makes a difference for me both in my lifestyle and attitude as well as mood management. Perhaps I need change sometimes to realize my own potential.
Control means being the master of my circumstances rather than my circumstances being my master. Control means showing discipline, creating structure in my actions and most especially my thoughts. Control means having direction rather than desperate reaction.
A thought that has been circling my outlook frequently as of late is that there is ALWAYS an end to everything. Life is finite. It ends. And compared to eternity, we live so short of a time. We suffer so short a time in comparison. I’ve thought often about things such as marriage or trials that people endure and the phases of life DO have an end. It may seem like forever, but a phase is a length of time with a beginning and an end. It’s up to us to endure with triumph. It can be really challenging to have that mindset when life is so wearisome. Having mental battles is wearisome. It so easy to just want it to STOP. However, if being bipolar has taught me anything, it’s taught me that I just experience emotional phases at warp speed compared to other people. So when I encounter a normal phase of life, I should keep in mind that it too shall pass. It just may feel interminable because I am probably experiencing an emotional phase in addition to the physical one. But it WILL end, so make a decision to be the master instead of the subject. INVICTUS anyone??
JJ Heller, on her lullaby album I DREAM OF YOU, sang “Baby, the sun will rise, however long the night”. The night (life/trials) really does FEEL long. Way to often it feels VERY long. Fortunately for children of God, we have our hope in eternity. That hope leads us to look beyond the ‘night’ and look for the sunrise. And how glorious that sunrise will be!
So, friends, look for the sunrise instead of lying in the dark watching the clock on the ceiling. Look for the end and run a disciplined race, power through the phase you’re in with triumph and control, and rejoice with the glory that awaits!