Another !!!WARNING!!! !!!WARNING!!!

Hey, hey, my dear friend...

Got another warning for you...

The warning is I may write some things that you may not want to read. Meaning, you may strongly disagree with me, so strongly that you may become displeased with me.

It's not necessarily important that we disagree. However, it can be greater to try and understand one another even if we think differently. It's alright to have divers beliefs.

The reason I begin this blog post in that way is because I know, and I understand that people do not agree with my stance that I am about to declare today... So, here I go...

The conditioning we receive from our guardians and teachers create habits in our attitudes, and personalities. These habits become addictions in a sense that we believe we cannot, or we do not want to quit them.

The addictions that I am talking about are the emotions that create very stressful atmospheres and lives. The emotions that I am talking about are anger, anxiety, depression, and despair.

Now, hear me out on this.

We are born spiritual beings.

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law." ~Galatians 5:22-23, Holy Bible, KJV

We have, in my humble opinion, absolutely no anger, anxiety, depression, or despair when we are born. We actually learn it from our conditioning. Can you not remember as a child being okay, and as you got older becoming less and less okay because of fear.

"For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and love, and a sound mind." ~2 Timothy 1:7, Holy Bible, KJV 

Anger is taught fear that we will not be okay if we do not get our way. Some people learned their anger from a guardian that would lose it if they didn't get their way, and/or they would get really mad if you didn't do things the way they wanted them done. Sound familiar?

Anxiety is fear of the future and is a training from the belief we must worry about what "might" happen. Some individuals learned their anxiety from a guardian that was always fearful of what might happen, or what other people might think of them. 

Depression is feeling not good enough and is derived by others convincing us, in our earlier years, we are not good enough. There are so many scenarios that could convince a person that he or she is not good enough, particularly from a guardian that was never satisfied, and always wanting a child to be, or do better. Primarily from a guardian that always complains, and criticizes, like the below average person.

These are just examples that I provide to some how, some way, show that years of conditioning has much to do with fearful emotions of a person. The crux of a negative emotion is that many cannot see how one can overcome something they've lived with for so long.

I know and see people with severe anger, anxiety, depression, and/or despair, in everyday life, and they honestly believe that is just how they are and they have absolutely no control over any of it.

This is not so! We do have control, we just got to believe we do. This is exactly why I asked my readers to memorize and repeat the scripture, "For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and love, and a sound mind." ~2 Timothy 1:7, Holy Bible, KJV, often in my last post.

The human experience and conditioning has given us the spirit of fear but God gives us the power, and love, and a sound mind to overcome it, and return to the spiritual being we truly are.

I know, with all my heart and soul that this is so! I know because I was the most angry, anxious, depressed, individual wallowing in the deepest of despair for many, many, many years. For years, I turned to God, and was guided and inspired to meditate. For years, I turned to God, and meditated, and have been guided and inspired to help thousands, yes, thousands of others overcome the same addictions.

Maybe you believe me, and maybe you don't. Either way, it's okay. One day, you will know, if you don't already know, that you are the most important person in your life, and the negative emotions that you experience, and reside in often, do not belong to you. Not only do they not belong to you, you can release them, but you just gotta do the work.

The work is to contemplate, focus, and meditate by desire rather than by default. We are contemplating, focusing, meditating beings, either by default or desire.

Think about when you worry. Do you not contemplate, focus, and meditate upon that worry with exquisite concentration? So much so that you cannot let it go!

If you do not believe that you have the power to overcome the negative emotion that you experience most, maybe it's just because you have not been trained to focus by desire.

The entire reason I have been offering scriptures for meditation and memorization is because it is a very easy way to train oneself in the way of desire. Do you not desire spiritual things over the carnal behavior? The negative emotions are the carnal behavior.

So, if you are still with me, let us retry the meditating and memorizing of the scripture I proposed in my last post...

Here it is...

"For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and love, and a sound mind." ~2 Timothy 1:7, Holy Bible, KJV

Maybe you agree with me, in that the negative emotions, I mentioned above, are in fact addictions, and fear. If so, let's meditate upon, as we memorize, the scripture above for at least four days. When or if you feel angry, anxious, depressed, or in despair, contemplate and focus on the scripture.

This is going to be really cool. It's a spiritual experiment to show you, and me that we are in fact spiritual, and we can do spiritual things with power, and love, and a sound mind. The things God gives us.

Let's do this!

We got this!

We are in this together...

Big Hugs my dear sweet sweet reader...

Speak soon,

Elizabeth

The Lesson of Life

Hey, hey...

It's Sunday...

So, happy Sunday...

He, he...

Do you know what the lesson of life is?

Life's lesson is that we turn to God for comfort and strength when we are suffering and struggling. When we turn to God, He shows us He's real.

That's the lesson!

If we suffer and struggle over and over, and we turn to God over and over, sooner or later, we discover that we can turn to Him at all times. 

When we always turn to Him, the comfort and strength for life come. When comfort and stability become a part of our everyday living, life is filled with ease and grace.

This ease and grace make way for a feeling and knowing God's unconditional love for us. Soon after, the human training of conditional love falls away, and we can understand and stand in a place connected to God, in perfect love without fear. I am talking about anger, anxiety, depression, and despair. 

Some people may find it hard to believe these negative emotions fall away. The point is that a person has to learn for himself or herself by turning to God regularly, not just on Sunday or when stuff hits the fan if you get my meaning.

Some people may never learn this lesson in their lifetime. Some people attend church every Sunday and are taught this weekly but do not live it. 

We can be taught this lesson and know it intellectually, but until we live it, we will continue our suffering and struggle.

To know deep down in the soul that God is real is to believe and behave as though one knows it. This is faithfulness and fearlessness in practice.

The above-average person resides in a spiritual state of being, connected to God. 

In my humble opinion, the average person cannot be above average through human conditioning. Meaning lack of a spiritual nature.

I do not consider human nature. I affirm human conditioning versus spiritual nature. 

Human conditioning teaches us conditional love and searching for happiness from others, which creates chaos rather than control.

Spiritual nature is the fruit of the spirit and is who we really are; some just forget. This spiritual nature, our nature, allows us to be connected to God with a state of confidence and poise, undaunted and unfazed by the world around us.

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law." ~ Galatians 5:22-23, Holy Bible, KJV

We are love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance. 

Look at any child, and you will see that they are the fruit of the spirit. We all have been a child, so we all are spiritual first. As compared below, you can also know that life teaches and trains all of us to be conditioned.

Spiritual Nature versus Human Training

Perfect love versus conditional love.

Joy versus depression.

Peace versus anxiety.

Longsuffering versus instant gratification.

Gentleness versus anger.

Goodness versus wickedness.

Faith versus fear.

Meekness versus arrogance.

Temperance versus excessiveness.

The lesson of life is to constantly turn to God, so we may know He is the truth, and He will lead us and guide us back to remembering and returning to who we are.

If you are having a hard time in life and are struggling to find relief, I believe, with all my body, mind, and soul, that if you turn to God unceasingly, you will discover respite. 

Always!

This relief is a practice into realization, as often as you seek it. Keep reaching, and this comfort comes with every search.

That's the lesson.

God has given us free agency and authority to choose, leading to our power and knowing our actual value and worth come from God and within our own mind, not from anything outside us.

"But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." ~ Matthew 6:33, Holy Bible, KJV

That's the lesson, my dear, caring, kind reader...

If you'd like to practice this lesson into permanence, read this post first thing in the morning and again last thing in the evening. Furthermore, contemplate it, focus on it, and practice it by turning to God. 

Reconditioning and retraining can be done by reminding and repetition, which are great ways of learning.

If you keep God at the forefront of your mind, I believe you will find much relief and purpose.

We are infants in our spirituality if we are not receiving guidance and inspiration from God and are not talking and walking with God.

And if that is not enough for you to do this week, may I suggest you learn to meditate, if you don't already. Quieting the mind is one of the most significant paths to free agency of thought and governing thy mood. ~wink~

"Be still and know that I am God." ~ Psalm 46:10, Holy Bible

The quiet mind gives respite from the worry of life and develops a listening way.

The belief, or thought, is the cause, and the emotion is the effect. I do believe that is the law of cause and effect.

You're doing really well, and you'll be just fine.

God bless you, my dear sweet friend...

Speak soon...

Elizabeth Stanfill

If you love what you read here, you may find my books by clicking, books by Elizabeth Stanfill.

SPIRITUALITY

Hey Hey!  How's things?  Things are great for me, thank you for asking.

Today, I want to talk about spirituality.

I know, I know, I always am talking about God and that sort of stuff.  Well, the thing is, I know with all my heart, and without a doubt, that being spiritual is the best stress prevention there is.

How is spirituality the best stress prevention?  Faith, my friend.  You gotta have faith, faith, faith.

So, what does it mean to be spiritual?  Now, this is just the gospel according to Elizabeth, who happens to be a Christian.  With that said, spirituality is closeness to God.

Are you spiritual?  What does it mean to you?  Are you close to God? 

I feel like I am, and I can always get closer.

The prevention thing is when you know, without a doubt, that when you want something, with God anything is possible.  Also, if you are hit with some sort of crisis or critical event, you know without a doubt, that you can handle anything.  Finally, when you are in your deepest moments of despair, being close to Heavenly Father allows you to talk to Him, anywhere, and anytime.  Not only does it allow you to talk to Him, it reminds you to.  Being close to Heavenly Father is having your mind firm on His words and His love.

If you are Christian, you know exactly what I am talking about.  If you are a non believer, you may think I am crazy.  Destressing yourself means to be able to have faith in life, others, and yourself, and it means to be relaxed and confident, no matter what you are up against, and that is easier to obtain when you are close to God.

Spirituality means to come unto God, to have a relationship with Him, and it means to keep Him and His plan at the utmost, up front of your mind.

How do we increase our spirituality?  Excellent question my friend.

1.  Pray morning, noon, and night.

2.  Speak to Heavenly Father, anytime, and anywhere.

3.  Read the scriptures.

4.  Go to church.

5.  Pray with your family.

6.  Read the scriptures with your family.

7.  Discuss the plan of salvation, and the scriptures with your family.

A family that prays together, stays together.

The thing is, when I work with people who are in crisis, the number one solution to help them get through it is their relationship with God.  I am talking about crisis as in death, destruction, devastation, divorce, and/or dying.  The greatest part of all of this is when people have a close relationship with God, they get through anything, and I mean anything, much more successful than if they do not have a relationship, or if their relationship is weak.

So, in order to add to your destress yourself repertoire, increase your relationship with the all mighty.

Don't wait for a devastation or destruction in your life.  Do it as a prevention.  Prevention is always the best solution.

That is what I got...

Oh, and HAPPY EASTER!!!

Big Hugs...

Elizabeth

IS THERE SPIRITUAL STRESS?

Hello!  How are you?  I hope you are having a lovely week and you are enjoying your weather.  I sho am.  We have had cold weather here in Southern California.  It has been in the low 50's, ha ha ha...  Sorry, it's just funny to me because we think 50 degrees is cold.  March is a cold month in Southern California.  Moo hoo ha ha ha.


So, I gotta question for you my friend...


Do you think there is Spiritual Stress?  I do!


For sure there is physical stress and there is mental stress.  I think most of our stress stems from the mental process that we have.  For example, if we have thoughts of doubt, fear, and worry about particular things we activate the stress response, which is an increase in heart rate and blood pressure, our blood flow shifts, our immune system shuts down, and all kinds of toxins are released into our system.  This response results in all kinds of stress, including the physical kind.


Also, when we suffer from physical stress it usually stems from our mental processes.  We sleep less because of our thoughts, meaning our mind might be racing and so we can't sleep, or we think we need to do something more important other than sleep.  We eat cruddy because of our beliefs like we don't have time for healthier food, or we crave fast, processed foods.  We don't exercise because we think other things are more important.  The physical stress comes from not eating right, not exercising, and not sleeping enough.  We need activity, nourishment, and rest to reduce physical strain.


Okay, okay, back to the question.  Do you think there is Spiritual Stress?  The reason I ask this is because I notice that people who do not have faith in God, or say they do but don't practice it, are the most stressed out people I know.


There are some Human Behaviorists that believe that all fear stems from the fear of death.  I do not believe it but you could certainly see how nonbelievers, in God, would be afraid of death.


The reason I believe that there is Spiritual Stress is because people who are at their deepest moments of despair can easily be brought from crisis to calm when we speak about faith in God.  Now, people who do not believe in God, have a very difficult time overcoming crisis.  Their faith in God is non existent, and their faith in life, others, and themselves is very very low. 


This is just my humble opinion from my experience in helping thousands of people destress themselves from deep despair, or in other words crisis.


I kid you not!  People who believe in God, especially the one's who have a deep down conviction that Jesus Christ is their Savior, are much more successful at handling critical stress, burnout, and just general stress.


I have been helping people with stress for about 20 years, and formally with a specialization for about 13 years.  In 2007, five years ago, I began my assistance to destress the world online and have helped literally thousands of people destress themselves.  One of the most important factors, or most important elements rather, is faith in God.  Faith in God truly helps more than anything I have ever witnessed.


So, with all of that said, is there a Spiritual Stress?  I truly believe there is.


Stress is strain, whether it is physical, mental, emotional, or even spiritual.  If stress is strain, the opposite of stress would be health, relaxation, and wellness, wouldn't it?


When I think of the opposite of stress, I think of safety and relaxation.  So if I am stressed, and I would want to be better, I would move towards feeling safe and relaxed.


When we put our trust in God, and have faith in Him, we feel safer, and more relaxed.


What do you think?  I have met only a few people in my life that do not believe in God, and that is why I can help so many people, because of their faith.  I know that this is so.


If you are stressed, it could be Spiritual Stress.  If you are Spiritually Stressed, this is what I would say...


"But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you."  ~Matthew 6:33


What things shall be added unto you?  "Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?  (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things."  ~Matthew 6:31-32


That's what I got, about Spiritual Stress.


I hope, with all my heart and soul, that you are enjoying your life, the people around you, and the places you are in because life is about experiencing joy.  I know it!  Do you know about it?


Have a great day my friend.  Remember to have fun and be playful.


BIG HUGS...


Elizabeth


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