Hi Everyone,
I wonder what you do when you are feeling under pressure? What are those tell tale signs for you?
When I'm feeling under pressure I start to get ultra organised. My to-do lists have sublists with actions and dates by them, I begin to organise the space around me. I become frustrated by anything that seems disorganised. What I am essentially trying to do is to control my world when it feels out of control.
You might recognise some of those behaviours in yourself or perhaps you go to the opposite extreme - doing nothing because you feel like your world is out of control. Perhaps you stop eating properly, or struggle to get motivated. Or perhaps escapism is your thing; watching hours of boxsets or films. All of these things, while they seem different to one another, are really about us going into that fight, flight or freeze mode. We feel the pressure and our natural instincts kick in to protect ourselves.
There is another alternative though. Psalm 121:1-2 says this:
I lift up my eyes to the hills - from where will my help come?
My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.
I don't suspect that I will stop trying to control my world by organising it but perhaps by lifting my eyes up, I might gain some perspective and maybe I will be able to relinquish some of that control that I am seeking. Organising my world my help me to feel better in the short term but it is not where my help ultimately comes from.
Lent begins next week and it's an invitation once again to lift our eyes up. It's a time to draw close to God and in that time know God drawing close to us.
May we enter this season with joy, hope and peace as we take time to dwell in the presence of our heavenly father.
With love
Jess
P.S. Just a reminder, Helen is looking for help with choosing songs on the 1st and 3rd Sundays when we’re on Zoom. This will involve choosing between 1 and 3 songs (depending on whether you just want to choose the ‘worship slot’ song, or the opening and closing songs too). You can introduce all three songs, or two, one or none; and you can choose whether or not to pray after the worship song. Helen and the service leader can offer support with this if you’d like to have a go but aren’t sure what might be involved. If you would like more information or to offer your help, please email Helen. Thanks for considering.
I wonder what you do when you are feeling under pressure? What are those tell tale signs for you?
When I'm feeling under pressure I start to get ultra organised. My to-do lists have sublists with actions and dates by them, I begin to organise the space around me. I become frustrated by anything that seems disorganised. What I am essentially trying to do is to control my world when it feels out of control.
You might recognise some of those behaviours in yourself or perhaps you go to the opposite extreme - doing nothing because you feel like your world is out of control. Perhaps you stop eating properly, or struggle to get motivated. Or perhaps escapism is your thing; watching hours of boxsets or films. All of these things, while they seem different to one another, are really about us going into that fight, flight or freeze mode. We feel the pressure and our natural instincts kick in to protect ourselves.
There is another alternative though. Psalm 121:1-2 says this:
I lift up my eyes to the hills - from where will my help come?
My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.
I don't suspect that I will stop trying to control my world by organising it but perhaps by lifting my eyes up, I might gain some perspective and maybe I will be able to relinquish some of that control that I am seeking. Organising my world my help me to feel better in the short term but it is not where my help ultimately comes from.
Lent begins next week and it's an invitation once again to lift our eyes up. It's a time to draw close to God and in that time know God drawing close to us.
May we enter this season with joy, hope and peace as we take time to dwell in the presence of our heavenly father.
With love
Jess
P.S. Just a reminder, Helen is looking for help with choosing songs on the 1st and 3rd Sundays when we’re on Zoom. This will involve choosing between 1 and 3 songs (depending on whether you just want to choose the ‘worship slot’ song, or the opening and closing songs too). You can introduce all three songs, or two, one or none; and you can choose whether or not to pray after the worship song. Helen and the service leader can offer support with this if you’d like to have a go but aren’t sure what might be involved. If you would like more information or to offer your help, please email Helen. Thanks for considering.
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