Sanity Savers

Every morning I wake up to what seems like a list of two million things I think I need to get done before the sun sets. I used to push myself to the limit physically and mentally, but still rarely accomplished everything I had planned, and that left me frustrated and stressed. My solution? I came up with a list of five things to help me get more done without feeling so pressured. Believe it or not, none of them are "work harder" or "go faster."

1. Pray for solutions. When we ask God in prayer for the help He has promised us in His Word, this sets heavenly forces to work on our behalf. So when I begin to feel pressured, I stop and ask Him to work out whatever situation is putting me under stress. This is getting at the root of the problem, not just dealing with the symptom, the stress.

2. Still my spirit. All prayers aren't answered instantaneously, of course, so I also pray for God to still my spirit and help me to trust Him for the outcome. I spend a few moments meditating on God and turning my worries and concerns over to Him. Jesus says, "Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and you will find rest for your souls" (Matthew 11:28-29).

3. Plan and organize. The Bible advises, "Let all things be done decently and in order" (1 Corinthians 14:40). I have found that by planning my day the night before, I can free myself of much of the stress on even the busiest of days. I start with a list of everything I need to do or would like to do, set priorities, and pare down the list to what seems realistic. Then I plan the order in which to do them, including my route and travel times, estimating on the outside to allow for the unexpected. If everything doesn't fit, I cut some more. Having a solid plan sets my mind at ease.

4. Take breaks. Friends who work in offices, banks, schools, and other busy workplaces tell me, "That's impossible! I don't have the time for breaks." But I've found that a break doesn't have to take 30 minutes or an hour to be effective. Five minutes or less will usually do. I drink a glass of water and step outside for a deep breath of fresh air. Or if I can't do that, I look out a window or lean back and close my eyes. Relaxing physically helps to calm my mind. The next hour or two usually go so much better that it's clear those five minutes were a good investment.

5. Stay positive. No matter how carefully I plan my day, there are times when things go wrong or the unexpected happens. Instead of panicking or getting frazzled, I make a conscious effort to look for the good, to focus on possible solutions, not the problem.

So there you have it—five sanity savers that don't require any special genius, just a little discipline and practice.

Do you want a new lease on life?

You can have one, but you have to be willing to let go of the pressures that drive you now.

It’s up to you!

—Andrew Mateyak

Getting Ahead

How can you maintain peace of mind in today's fast-paced world without falling behind or getting run over by the pack? Here are some ideas.

Set priorities and goals.

· Without meaningful goals you will never be truly successful in life, no matter how much money you earn or how great a name you make for yourself.

· Be wise; prioritize.

· Success starts in the heart. When priorities and motives are right, you're halfway there.

· Avoid self-imposed pressure by avoiding unrealistic goals and deadlines.

· Even a relatively small project can seem like a mountain when you get so close to it that it's all you can see. Cut it down to size by breaking it up into smaller tasks.

· When you feel overwhelmed with all there is to do, reassess your goals, priorities, strategy, and work habits.

· Keep things in perspective. Don't let little inconveniences become big annoyances that sap your inspiration and strength.

· If you are worried about tomorrow, it makes today doubly difficult because you're trying to carry tomorrow's burdens as well as today's. Concentrate only on what you can do today.

Slow down and take time to rest and relax.

· There will always be deadlines, pressures, and work. If you let those things run your life, you'll never find time to relax and enjoy life.

· Life is a marathon, not a sprint. Pace yourself.

· You must stop everything periodically and connect with the source—God—to get recharged, or you will run out of power.

· Better to take regular times of rest than to risk a breakdown. No matter how important your work is, it's not as important as your health and spiritual well-being.

· After creating the universe, God rested from His labor, and He tells us to do likewise.

Don't get caught in the materialism trap.

· Material things may temporarily satisfy the body, but only God and His love can truly satisfy the spirit.

· The truest wealth is measured in the things that money can't buy.

· Some people own things, and some people's things own them.

· At best, material success will last till the day you die; love lasts for eternity.

Take time for people.

· Make people your priority, and the best things in life will come to you.

· Start the day with love, and love will carry you through the day.

· Take the preferences, needs, personalities, and limitations of those you work with into consideration. That will go a long way in reducing stress and friction, two arch enemies of happiness.

· The life you live will soon be past,
But the things you do for love will last.

· All you need to be a world changer is love, because love changes everything it touches.

Stay positive and cheerful.

· To get the most from every day, look for the good in every situation.

· Success starts with a successful attitude. Train your mind to look beyond obstacles, disappointments, setbacks, and even failures.

· A smile is the lighting system of the face and the heating system of the heart.

· Laughter relaxes you physically and refreshes you mentally and emotionally by putting your problems in perspective.

Give your cares and problems to Jesus.

· Prayer can lift you up on the wings of God's Spirit to where you can see the big picture more clearly.

· When the pace or the events of the day seem overwhelming, take time to reflect and talk things over with Jesus, and you will be amazed at how much more energy you'll have and how much smoother things will go.

· Prayer is meant to be like talking to your closest friend on the telephone. You talk to Jesus, you listen, and together you sort things out.

· Make prayer your prelude, and you'll stay on key all day.

· Jesus can give you solutions that will make problems that loom as large as mountains melt away.

· Jesus said, "My yoke is easy and My burden is light," but there's one condition attached: "Come unto Me" (Matthew 11:28-30).

Maintain a healthy, well-balanced lifestyle

· An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. It's better to stay healthy than to have to be healed.

· The best way to prevent illness is to obey God's natural laws: Live right, eat right, work right, play right, rest right, love right, and maintain a right relationship with Him.

· Take time to enjoy life. God made every good thing for you to enjoy in moderation, and He created the senses with which to enjoy them.

· Taking good care of our bodies shows respect for the God who created us and gave us life and health.

· What you take in mentally and spiritually is as important to your overall well-being as what you eat. If life is full of headaches, perhaps you've been filling your head with the wrong stuff.

Compiled by Abi F. May

Failure Is Not Defeat

Failure does not equal defeat; they are two separate things.

Failure is a part of every life; everyone fails at times.

Defeat is when you don't rebound, but instead allow failure to turn what could be a successful life into a wasted one through self-pity and fear of the opinions of men.

Feelings of inferiority are Satan's attempts to deny the power of God within you.

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One good thing about failure is that you appreciate the victory all the more.

It's not the failing that counts, but what you do with it.

No one has ever made a discovery, won a victory, or had a breakthrough without first experiencing some failures, yet refusing to let those failures defeat them.

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Failing is often God’s way of helping you to zero in on His highest and best.

As your own programs crumble into dust, He’s right there with a new blueprint for something much better.

You can fail many times—in different things—and you will.

But you're not a failure as long as you keep getting up and trying again.

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Always remember that there's a difference between failure, —which happens many times in our lives, and being a failure —which only happens if we decide to give up and quit.

There's a big difference between saying "I fail" and "I'm a failure."

There's no disgrace in saying the first—which is just a fact of life—but you should never say "I'm a failure" unless you've decided to give up.

The basic rules for success may be defined as follows: Know what you want. Find out what it takes to get it. Act on it and persevere.

No one is a failure who can truly say, "I have done my best."

Words Of Wisdom

ON PRAYER:

A potpourri of inspirational thoughts on several topics.

If you worry… you didn’t pray. If you prayed… DON’T WORRY.

As a child of God, prayer is like calling home every day.

No one can live in doubt when he has prayed in faith.

To grow tall spiritually, a man must first learn to kneel.

Some people talk about Heaven being so far away, when it is within speaking distance of those who belong there.

Nothing lies beyond the reach of prayer except that which lies outside the Will of God.

Most of us would be in more trouble than we are if all our prayers had been answered.

“If two of you shall agree on Earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of My Father which is in Heaven.
For where two or three are gathered together in My name, there am I in the midst of them.”

Matthew 18:19-20

ON FAITH:

Faith sees the invisible, believes the incredible, & receives the impossible.

Faith is to accept the impossible, do without the indispensable, & bear the intolerable.

Faith is idle when circumstances are right, only when they are adverse is one's faith in God exercised. Faith, like muscle, grows strong & supple with exercise.

You will never learn faith in comfortable surroundings.

Faith ends where worry begins, & worry ends where faith begins.

The greatest victories are the victories of faith. It is not so much what we can do that counts, but what we can trust God to do.

He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God;
And being fully persuaded that, what He had promised, He was able also to perform.

Romans 4:20-21

ON CHARACTER:

Character, like embroidery, is made stitch by stitch.

Men of genius are admired; men of wealth are envied; men of power are feared; but only men of uprightness are trusted.

You cannot control the length of your life, but you can control its breadth, depth, & height.

The real measure of a man's wealth is how much he would be worth if he lost all his money.

Your reputation can be damaged by the opinions of others. Only you yourself can damage your character.

For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ.

Galatians 1:10

ON HAPPINESS:

Happiness is neither within us only, or without us; it is the union of ourselves with God. --Blaise Pascal

To be content with what we possess is the greatest of all riches.

There is as much difference between spiritual joys & earthly as between a banquet that is eaten & one that is painted on the wall.

There is no key to happiness, the door is always open.

There are two ways of being rich. One is to have all you want, & the other is to be satisfied with what you have.

You will be happier if you will give people a bit of your heart rather than a piece of your mind.

If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them.

John 13:17

ON PEACE:

Peace is not made at the council tables, or by treaties, but in the hearts of men. --Herbert Hoover

Peace rules the day, when Christ rules the mind.

The peace of God transcends all understanding & misunderstanding.

If we have not quiet in our minds, outward comfort will do no more for us than a golden slipper on a gouty foot. --John Bunyan

Peace is the smile of God reflected in the soul of the believer.

Peace is not the absence of conflict, but the presence of God no matter what the conflict.

Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

John 14:27

When Disaster Strikes

 

WORDS OF COMFORT FROM JESUS

Shock, pain, anguish. Fear, confusion, turmoil. Disbelief, terrible sadness, anger. In this dark hour, I know even these words cannot fully express what you who have been touched by grave tragedy feel inside.

I know many of you feel that, at this point, there is no peace to be found. Mental anguish and an array of emotions grip you.

I feel and understand your pain. I hear the questions that barrage you. I see the horror that haunts you. I know the havoc, the devastation, the tragic loss of life. I grieve for you. I see your misery. I feel your heavy-heartedness.

Yes, I do see. I do care. I am deeply touched with your grief.

Some of you ask whether I care that your loved ones are gone. You may wonder if I care that your heart is breaking. You may question if I see.

My heart aches for you, and I want to comfort you. I want to relieve your pain and clear your mind. I want to give you peace that passes all understanding. I want to give you peace though all seems lost. I want to give you peace in place of fear, and comfort in place of distress, turmoil, and confusion.

No matter what you feel at this moment, no matter how deeply grieved you may be, no matter how hopeless or distraught you feel, I ask you to put Me to the test. Test My love. You can do this by letting Me comfort your heart, ease your mind, and free you from fear.

I'm reaching out to you now. If you'll grab hold of Me, if you will call on Me for help—even if you do not understand, even if you feel confused, even if you feel the pain is too much to bear—if you'll just put your hand in Mine and trust Me, I will give you peace that passes all understanding.

There is peace to be found. In the midst of this terrible destruction and despair that has touched your lives, in the face of bereavement and suffering, I will be your comfort and your consolation.

I want to answer the questions that trouble your mind. I want to allay the anguish and heaviness of heart, mind, and spirit you feel.

Put Me to the test. I am here with outstretched arms to bring you comfort. No matter how difficult the circumstances, I can give you perfect peace, freedom from fear, and strength to pull you through. I will be a light in the midst of the darkness that surrounds you. Try Me!

Those of you who already know Me, please talk to Me more. You can call out to Me anywhere, anytime, any hour of the day. When you do, if you'll wait a moment and listen, I will answer you. I will speak to your heart and mind, and will comfort and guide you through this difficult time.

Those of you who don't know Me yet, I will do the same for you if you'll call on Me now. Simply say:

"Jesus, if You really are the Son of God, I need You. Please make Your presence known to me. Give me Your peace and comfort and love. Take away my fear, ease this pain, comfort my aching heart. Set my confused and anguished mind at peace. Help me to talk to You, and to listen when You reply. Give me answers to my questions."

All you have to do is take this first step. No matter how dismal these days may be, I will pull you through if you'll hold on to Me. I never sleep. I am attentive to your needs and listening for your voice all the time. I am here to comfort and care for you. I am ready to answer your every question. Though your dreams may be shattered, there is no sorrow that I cannot and will not heal. I am here to hold you, to console you, to comfort you.

With never-ending love,

Jesus