When Nothing Else Works

I want to let you in on a little secret....I need to remind myself what works for me when I enter into a new stressful period.  I have joked that the reason I wrote Sprouting Spiritual Growth is so I may have my own resource guide to remember what works for me and that if I were to buy thousands of copies, I would be golden!  But seriously, I also know that what works for me works for a lot of people, but if these suggestions don't work, the most direct answers can be obtained by asking for God's* guidance.  In fact, that's what I was doing over a recent stressful period.  At night when I couldn't sleep I still did mental gratitude lists, coming up with up to 36 things that I was thankful for, sometimes not getting to that number because I've fallen asleep.  But on a few occasions, I could not get up to 36 things because I was too distracted.  That's when I just let go and said, "And I ask God to help me."  I said this repeatedly and any time that my mind wondered, until I could get back at the task at hand, whether it be gratitude lists or some other necessary task.  What I'm happy to report is that this has helped tremendously.  As a result, it's another tool!  So, whenever I can't handle things on my own, and especially during the middle of the night when I'm the only one awake, I can give my stresses, worries, concerns to God with the simple phrase "And I ask God to help me."
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Reflective questions:
1.  Do you manage stress by handling everything on your own, or do you seek the help of others or God*?

2.  What does God* want you to know about this (ask directly, "God, what do you want me to know?")

* I use the term God as a universal term.  You may decide that Great Spirit, Allah, Higher Power, Sensibility, etc. better suits you today.  It is not for me to decide.

Photo by MH 

Note:  These posts are part of a broader call to do spiritual journaling which is simply journaling what's on your heart and mind and then asking God* what else you should know (read more at CardinalTouch.net).