Haggai 2:9, AMP, "The glory of this latter house shall be greater than the former, saith the Lord of hosts: and in this place will I give peace, saith the Lord of hosts.
" God, I thank you in advance for giving me the peace of Jerusalem".
I say the above confession in addition to others during my morning prayer and prior to starting my day. What it means to me is that no matter what I encounter that day until the next my mind will be at peace.
I believe the goal for practically everybody is to have peace in their lives. Unfortunately, many of us fall short of achieving that goal and struggle with creating balance for a stress-free lifestyle. It is a well-known fact that a lack of peace results in an increase in stress which can lead to mental and physical ailments.
So what do you do about dealing with this battle between peace and stress? The obvious is to find ways to eliminate stress by executing preventive methods of stress reduction.
Some of my personal preventive stress reduction methods are as follows:
1. Prayer 2. Working out 3. Cutting certain types of people out of my life 4. Me time 5. Surrounding myself with positive people 6. Engaging in activities that challenge me personally 7. Sleep 8. Sex 9. Writing 10. Helping others 11. Managing my time effectively 12. Cooking 13. Traveling 14. Serving others 15. Enjoying the breeze in a car or motorcycle.
My list can go on and on, but the bottom-line is that you must determine what causes stress in your life and find ways to eliminate it.
For example, I was once in a relationship that had so much turmoil that it affected me mentally and physically. I was less productive at work because I could not focus on a task, I lost weight because I lost my appetite and I began to question my self-worth. I felt abandoned and alone. My mind stayed focus on what I can do to correct the issues in the relationship and I even lowered my standards in some circumstances to do what it took to prevent another argument from occurring. I was losing myself and all I wanted to do was sleep. I was at rock bottom emotionally and my heart was filled with pain.
I was in a cave mentally, alone and tired for some time, but then my world turned for the better. Thanks to constant prayer, uplift by TRUE friends and by making the decision that I didn't want to feel this way anymore. I was able to rebound and began to love myself again. I started working out and dove into new projects and adventures that made me happy. I regained confidence to realize that I am special and deserve more than what I was receiving. My mind was on the right track.
Over a period of time, I decided to cut my losses despite being deeply in love. With a clear head, I realized that my ex-partner was dealing with a serious mental health issue. She didn't love or know herself and wasn't certain of what she needed to be happy. She was depressed. How can she truly love and treat me right? The answer was she couldn't. She searched for love in all the wrong places and never took the time to stop everything unimportant in her life and fix her.
Today, she is seeking the help she needs that will eventually change her life for the better. I am optimistic for her future and I am still her greatest cheerleader for a good recovery and new found happiness despite not being in her life.
With all that being said, you too must do what is necessary to increase peace and decrease stress. You owe it to yourself to get off the hamster wheel of stressful living. The health benefits are tremendous when you eventually put into practice methods that can sustain peace. You will be a better person for yourself and others. All that is required is for you to recognize the need and make the decision to take the first step.
I challenge you to get off the highway of stressful living and join me at the next exit towards achieving good health through a peaceful mind.
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