(From the keen mind and gentle spirit of my friend and colleague Mel Kaufmann, who gives me permission to share his thinking with you so you can be even more on-purpose.)
Relieving Anxiety, Stress and Worry
I do not know how you can relieve stress, anxiety and worry. I can only explain how I have relieved them. Each morning I get up thirty minutes before anyone gets out of bed and say my prayers. My prayer is a radical departure from my teaching as a child. I was taught to ask God to do stuff for me. I flip the coin. I clear my mind so God can tell me what He wants me to do. The most difficult part of this type of prayer is to still the mind. Without a stilled mind when God calls He gets a busy signal. I have lifted a sentence from Eva Bell Werber’s book, Quiet Talks With the Master; be still, put aside all thoughts of your own and let the leaven of My Spirit work through you. Quieting the mind is not a quick fix. I have been practicing this form of prayer since 1977. I still have difficulty ridding my mind of external affairs. Each year I am better and better at quieting my mind. At this moment in time, I no longer have anxiety, stress or worry. When I do quiet my mind I discover that God replaces my thoughts with rich gifts of the Spirit. So many beautiful people say to me, “I don’t have the time.” What they are really saying to me, “I don’t take the time.” For those who do not take the time, someday they will realize that tomorrow will the same as yesterday.
Mel Kaufmann
melvinkaufmann@gmail.com