Connecting to God

Well Hello!

How are you doing today? I pray that you are happy, healthy, and wealthy! (insert me winking here)
 

In my last post, I wrote about letting go of stress by appreciating it more. Did you read it? If so, did you practice appreciation more?

When we feel appreciation, we are so close to the feeling of love, and it's a great way of connecting to God.

The scriptures say to be thankful for all things. They also say God is love and abides in us when we love. Appreciation is very close to the feeling of love, and loving others is an excellent way of connecting to God.

When we connect to God, we feel good, and that's why people may attend church every Sunday or when times are hard. When times are difficult, everyone wants to feel better, and that's why we turn to God; we feel better, we feel good, we feel love, and we feel relief from our stress.

With all my heart and soul, I hope you took upon yourself the mission to practice appreciation by searching for the good in others, the environment in which you stand, and yourself.

I also hope and pray that you will practice loving the person before you, your environment, and yourself more. When you do, you connect to God, which relieves stress; it destresses you!

It's all about focus and practicing for permanence. We have the free agency to choose what we focus on. We can choose thoughts of happiness or heartache. We can choose to heal our beliefs, behaviors, and emotions, or we can choose to hurt them. Desire versus default.

Holding on tightly in your mind to what is wrong makes it difficult to see what is right and makes it challenging to heal.

Hold on tight to what is right, what you appreciate, what you are thankful for, and what there is to love in life, and let what's wrong dissipate and fall away; it's the law of faith.

If you find no things to appreciate or love, it may be a significant indicator that you are out of practice.

What about appreciating the simple things like eyes to see with, a nose to smell with, a tongue to taste delicious food, arms to hug your loved ones with, legs to walk on, ears to hear awesome music, and family and friends that are always there for you?

My dear, sweet friend, I pray that you may consider connecting to God in these significant ways of practicing appreciation and love more.

That's all I have, except a prayer held tight in my heart that you will consider these things for yourself because you are the most critical person in your life and are very important to God and me.

God bless.

Take care.

Elizabeth Stanfill 

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

Destressing Moments of Despair

Hello there!

Today, I want to begin a journey of destressing despair.

How are you doing my friend?

I hope and pray you are doing more than okay.

For many years I suffered deep moments of despair. For many years I responded to people in distress, as an EMT, on 911 (emergency) calls, and then I began my profession of responding to Emergency Personnel in deep moments of despair. Now, on occasion individuals will contact me who are experiencing the same. 

It is my personal opinion, when a person is suffering emotionally to the point of anguish, desperation, and hopelessness, it is quite possibly the worst feeling anyone can, and will experience. I know this because I personally experienced it for years, and have seen thousands of people suffer from it. 

The most important part of my experience is, I've witnessed relief in others and myself! I've witnessed healing from despair over and over and over again, and continue to see it. Additionally, I want to help anyone suffering and point him or her to the direction of peace.

If you are suffering emotionally, I would like to help point you in the direction of solace. It is my prayer that you will find a way to lift yourself from your broken heart no matter the cause. For it is you, and only you, who can, and will find rest for yourself if you seek it.

This is what I know for sure...

God is real, and if you turn to Him, He will comfort and strengthen you in that moment. 

This is what I also know...

Comfort and strength does not always last long when we are suffering. Matter of fact, we may only get glimpses of relief, one moment at a time. Therefore, we must continue to turn to God, every minute, of every hour, of everyday for our entire life here on earth.

Many people go to church on Sunday, and find respite from their emotional suffering. Then the week begins and life sets in with family, finances, relationships, and work, and so goes the stress, and the week. Then Sunday comes again, and more emotional rest. So goes the cycle.

I have learned that connecting to God, throughout the week, with quiet contemplation, and conversation, not only gives me guidance and inspiration but, comfort and joy. Yes! I converse with God, and I listen. He shows me evidence that He is real and I show Him faith that I know He is real.

I have frequent inner knowings of numerous things, and I know that these knowings are guidance and inspiration from God.

I've known God is real since a very young age of about four years old, and now at the young age of fifty four, my time is very much consumed with this knowing. There is no more despair because I turn to God more often than I ever have, and I just continue to.

There is no more anger, anxiety, or depression in my life because I feel God every moment, of every hour, of every day. Straight up! He is my life, and I talk about Him in nearly every conversation, and I walk with Him in nearly every step.

Please know that I am very human, and so I am imperfect. Sometimes I do get feelings and thoughts that I do want to get angry, anxious, or depressed but for only very teeny weeny moments. When I do want to have negative emotions, I will immediately giggle at myself because I have learned to laugh at me. 

Fearful feelings are human habits of this human experience that do diminish with proper practice, just as they grew with practice. 

It's alright if you do not believe me, but that is where it all begins, in a belief. To just believe is a glance at faith, then it takes repeated belief, and repetitive behaviors to get to where I proclaim to be. Certainly, my faithfulness and fearlessness for love and life did not happen over night.

Please understand, I do not believe I am better than anyone, and I am not bragging! I'm trying to prove there is destressing despair. Also, I believe in my capabilities within my confidence in God only because of the past fifty years of personal evidence, and the past twenty-seven years of witnessing others heal in a professional environment.

I know with all my heart and soul it takes faith and practice my friend.

The first step is to turn to God, and just keep on a practicing. That's all I do is practice and I love unconditionally. Love is the remedy for all despair. 

God is love...

"He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love." ~1 John 4:8, New Testament, The Holy Bible, KJV

"And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him." ~1 John 4:16, New Testament, The Holy Bible, KJV

God is the solution...

"God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble." ~Psalms 46:1, The Old Testament, The Holy Bible, KJV

If you do not believe in God, doubt your faith in Him, or just want to strengthen your conviction, ask Him for help, quiet your mind, and listen. He will show you He is real, especially if you are in despair.

This is the beginning... connecting to and turning to God, is the first step for relief from moments of sadness and sorrow.

That's all I gots...

Except, I love you!

God loves you!

You are so very special to Him! Seek Him more, and you will know, if you don't already know that this is true!

God bless you my dear sweet friend! My dear sweet brother/sister of this world.

Speak soon...

Elizabeth

The Most Important Thing To Do

Hello, there my dear friend...

The most important thing to do is what I'd like to discuss this day...

How are you doing? I'm ever praying that you are leveling up by connecting to God...

The other day I had a dream that God came to me and said, "You are helping a specific individual by the words that you write. You will guide this person to levels that are needed to be obtained to do work I have sent this person to do in this life."

I'm a dreamer, and my dreams are, oftentimes, more real than my awake life. If I told you some of the dreams that I have had, you may think me crazy, or you may resonate because I know there are people out there like me.

Anyway, I believe in my dreams. I believe it when I have a dream about God coming to me. Why do I believe it? Because I've had so many dreams very similar to this one.

About a week ago, I had a dream that I was at the veil between this life and the next, and it was a very bright white with gold glitter. It was so bright that it should have blinded me but didn't.

Why am I telling you about my dreams? I am telling you because I know that the veil between this life, and the next, is very thin when we are connected to God, and when we are sleeping. One of the reasons I believe this is because of my dreams. Another reason is when we are asleep, our negative emotions are weakened by unconsciousness, and negative emotions disconnect us from God.

When we are without negative emotions, we are more aware of and connected to God.

I trust in my dreams because I trust in God. I could write a book alone, about all the people, who have passed from this life and have come to me in my dreams.

I have learned the most important thing to do is to trust in God.

With this trust comes guidance, and inspiration. With this guidance, and inspiration comes confidence in life, others, and the self.

This is what I'm leading up to with all this talk...

The most important thing we can/could do, in this life, is to learn to trust in God.

"Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths." Proverbs 3:5-6, Holy Bible, KJV

The greatest, most permanent stress relief comes from a calm, and confident belief, which cannot come from anyone or anything else than God.

When we learn to live in a calm, and confident way, connected to God, all negative emotions that fall under anger, anxiety, depression, and despair, fall away. Sound impossible? I understand that some may believe it is impossible to live without these negative emotions. Trust me, I was the angriest, most anxious, depressed person I knew, wallowing in despair quite often. Now, I have not one ounce of negative emotion in any part of my being for more than a millisecond, because when and if I do, I remember and go back to trusting God, knowing He is in charge. This did not happen overnight, I practiced it for years, into permanence, replacing the fear with faith.

If I can live without negative emotions, anybody can.

The only way to get there is to practice connecting to and trusting God and making it permanent.

I'm not just talking about attending church every Sunday and saying your prayers morning and night. I am talking about keeping God at the forefront of your mind so that you know deep down in your soul that you can trust Him because you know He is in charge.

Dang... I ramble.

I do not apologize, defend, or explain my rambles. I do, however, want to remind myself, and others, that repetition is the great law of learning. Therefore, practice, practice, practice, into permanence, trusting God.

Like the scripture says above, "In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths." In other words, practice keeping Heavenly Father in every thought, and guidance and inspiration will come more and more every hour of every day.

I know that this is so... I am a witness, and that's why I think the veil is so thin with me. This is why I believe I am blessed in my dreams. My dreams, and experiences, are blessings from God that let me know He is real.

I know with all my heart and deep down in my soul that God is real.

Our Heavenly Father directs our paths. It is easier to know this when we acknowledge Him, and when we talk and walk with Him. This voluntary action increases our trust in Him.

Shall we practice trust in God?

Here's an exercise for you...

Meditate upon, and memorize the first part of the scripture given above, "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding."

When you wake up, first thing in the morning, contemplate this phrase.

Throughout the day, especially when you are feeling negative emotions, remind yourself, and repeat this scripture.

In the evening, as you lay your head on your pillow, to retire for the night, think about this verse.

Do this the entire week, and watch yourself lift in beliefs, behaviors, and blessings. It is my humble opinion, that if you do this, even for just this week, your trust in God will level up like you've never seen it level up before.

This exercise will help you, if you want it to, do the most important thing you can/could do, and that is trust in God.

This trust is the path to all the open doors we are praying for, to all the answers to the questions we have been asking.

It is my humble opinion that if anyone would do this type of spiritual exercise for the rest of their life, and make it a permanent habit of contemplation, he or she will be put directly on the path they're supposed to be on.

This habit could be greater than any degree that you can/could obtain.

This type of practice can be greater than any title that you can/could obtain.

Degrees and titles become insignificant with time, ask any retired person. But becoming connected to God with powerful trust is eternal.

Connection to, and trust in God is eternal.

That is all...

I hope and pray you have a beautiful and brilliant week my dear reader...

God bless you...

Speak soon...

Elizabeth Stanfill

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

Why Meditation?

Hello...

Why I meditate and why I want to teach the world to meditate are the topics I wanna ramble about this day.

How are you? Summer is here in the United States, and people are busy, busy, busy.

When people are busy, busy, busy, they tend to get the momentum of the hurry-up disease, which causes anxiety and a lack of awareness of self and others.

As a young single mother, I was always busy and had a hurry-up disease momentum. This hurry-up disease has no mercy on the soul. The habit of being in a hurry does not allow for time to think about others or actions of the self because the focus is to hurry and get things done.

Let me tell you about my actions when I had the hurry-up disease. My most prevalent behaviors were anger, anxiety, complaining, criticism, debt, depression, drama, exhaustion, inappropriateness, insecurity, insomnia, irritability, moodiness, negativity, overeating, and worry. Just to name a few ~wink, wink~

All of these habits I mentioned I call addictions because an addiction, in my mind, is something a person believes he or she cannot quit. Individuals get so good at practicing a particular behavior they tend to live with the belief that they cannot stop that behavior.

Some people believe they have to hurry, hurry, hurry. Some people think they cannot quit their anger, anxiety, depression, despair, moodiness, or worry. No matter the action, it's just like an addiction. A person has to want to quit and begin to believe he or she can change.

Practice makes habits of permanence, whether they are thoughts, feelings, or actions!

Connecting to God and meditating has helped and still does help me lessen the negative behaviors I speak of above. I have been meditating since 1999 and have, I believe, eliminated much of my past harmful addictions/behaviors. I have mostly eliminated anger, anxiety, depression, and despair.

If something even tries to annoy me within seconds, I giggle because God and meditation have taught me that when I quiet my mind, I realize that life is not as serious as I used to make it out to be.

Please believe me when I say I know I am human and not perfect. Therefore, I keep practicing daily because I do not think one can or does become perfect without negative beliefs and behaviors. Practicing permanence is more of what life is about rather than perfection. When we make things permanent, we leverage habitual human behavior.

Meditation is simply the quieting of the mind, which gives awareness to the thoughts, feelings, and actions of the self and a greater connection to God. This awareness and connection allow one to recognize the negative thoughts, feelings, and actions and intentionally change them to more enlightening, inspiring, motivating, and positive thoughts, feelings, and actions.

The quiet mind allows one to practice the feelings of calmness, confidence, relaxation, and safety, which are the opposite of stress.

I have meditated for twenty years, and I know no one, personally, with more consistent joy than me. I do not say that to brag. I say that to convince you of the incredible pleasure God and meditation have brought me.

God and this joy I speak of have brought me out of the depths of despair and PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder). Now I am the opposite person of whom I was 27 years ago (that's half my age, by the way). That, my friend, is the greatest thing of them all because I was miserable much of the time, and now I am in bliss most of the time.

I love life!

Could you imagine profound, deep, deepest moments of despair to the point of not wanting to live and then becoming so in love with life? That question is a primary reason I write this blog in hopes of helping my brother or sister here on earth. To help anyone I can, go from misery to joy.

The very act of moving from misery to joy is why I want to teach the world to meditate!

Could you imagine someone (possibly you) living in constant or periodic crisis, discovering meditation, making it a practice, and then never knowing or even experiencing crisis again? Could you imagine being in a state of confidence no matter what happens because you know how to remain calm and connected to God?

I have talked thousands of people out of their state of anxiety, and the way I did it was by remaining calm and talking to them through quieting their bodies, mind, and soul. Quieting others like that is something a person can do for themselves regularly and through regular meditation practice.

I have talked to many suicidal individuals and done it from a calm place, pointing them towards calming themselves and their faith in themselves, life, and others. Building on belief comes from a connection to God and a meditative mind of relaxation and feeling secure.

It may sound like I am boasting, and I am, but I do not boast of myself. I boast of God and practicing meditation.

All that calming and faith is much more complicated than just a few words of explanation. But, I know no other way than connecting to God and regular meditation practice that creates the success of bringing the self, as well as other people, from crisis to calm. There is no way I could have ever done what I have done, and still do, for others, and myself, if it weren't for my connection to God and my meditation practice that enhances that connection.

I shall meditate until the end of my days because life just improves.

I shall teach people to meditate until the end of my days because I see more and more success.

So... that, my friend, is why I meditate and want to teach the world to meditate.

The best part is that meditation doesn't take long at all. Five minutes a day is where anyone can begin. That five minutes can and will help anyone bring that quiet mind to the full force of the present moment at any time and anywhere.

You can begin by listening to the five-minute meditation video I created by clicking this link. The only thing required is focusing on the sounds. You can have your eyes closed or open. It's a start. Every journey begins with one simple step, eh?

I pray that I have inspired you to meditate so that you may develop a calm, sure, and confident mind. So you may learn what a constant state of relaxation, safety, and security feels like. So you may eliminate any anger, anxiety, depression, or any other negative emotion, especially despair.

Warning! Warning! Warning!

Once you meditate, you can never go back!

What I mean by that is that if you begin to meditate, you will become so aware of your beliefs and behaviors that when you continue the meditation, life just gets better and better and better because you become more connected to God. That connection to God becomes obvious via guidance and inspiration toward others, you, and your future. 

When a person meditates, he/she begins to feel so good that if that person stops the meditation practice, the negative emotions experienced in the past become so much more intense. I believe that when an individual discontinues a meditation practice, the negative emotion becomes so much more profound because the feeling of good from meditation is so powerful. That contrast is so clear that anyone would long for that special good feeling place.

It takes practice to make permanent, and so one must continue meditation to remain in that good feeling place of a calm, clear, confident connection to the true self and God.

That connection, my friend, is authentic, which is precisely why I will meditate to the end of my days and possibly beyond. 

Nothing is more important to me than being connected to God! There are not enough money, recognition, or titles in the world more important to me than knowing, talking, and walking with God. I've been asking for that closeness and connection for the whole of my life! And, if you feel the same way, you will learn to make time for meditation.

Have a wonderful weekend and the week ahead.

Take good care!

Hug, hug, hug...

I love you...

Elizabeth Stanfill

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

God bless you...

How To Destress

How To Destress is what I specialize in, and this week I want to provide a detailed step by step process on how to do it.

Hello there my friend.  How are you this lovely Saturday morning?  I am fantastico.  About to get ready to  help a friend.  It's gonna be fun, and I love fun.

I have been blogging for over 6 1/2 years, and it took me about one year to really get traffic and to really start helping people out.  Believe it or not, when I started to get busy, I would get upwards of over 50 emails a day, and over the weekend I could get over 150.  The reason I tell you that is because I have the greatest opportunity in the universe to help people all over the world with stress.

If you are stressed, the best thing you can do is learn how to destress, and I want to delineate a list of things that must be done, and then through out the week, I will talk about each item in detail.  Why am I doing this?  Well, I love to help people with stress because stress causes misery, and the other reason is I feel like I have neglected my blog readers lately.  I have been so busy, I rarely blog anymore on a regular basis.

So...

Here is the list of things that you can do if you wanna know how to destress.

1.  Take responsibility for your life.  When we take responsibility for our life, we are truly making things happen for ourselves rather than letting what may come, come by default.  The way we take responsibility is by choosing, and being more intentional with, our thoughts, feelings, and actions.  If you feel bad the majority of the time you will have stress.  If you feel bad the majority of the time, your thoughts are, by default, thinking negatively.

2.  Make a commitment to your change.  If you are unhappy, angry, anxious, or depressed, you are the only one who can change it.  We all know that statement is true, but how many of us really do anything about it?  If you are unhappy, angry, anxious, or depressed, you might want to do a little more for yourself than what you are doing now, and that takes a commitment.  I always tell my clients, and readers, to make at least a 90 day commitment to change their thoughts, feelings, and actions intentionally.  Although, this is a life long commitment, we have to start somewhere, and 90 days is a good place.  I commit to myself everyday, all day long, for a stress free me.

3.  Have an open mind.  When we have an open mind, we are teachable, and willing to try new things.  If you are unhappy, angry, anxious, or depressed, you are stressed.  If you are stressed, what you are doing is probably not working, and therefore, having an open mind, being teachable, and being willing to try new things like meditation (quieting the worried stressful mind), affirmations (intentionally being faithful and hopeful), and creating intentional visualizations (thinking about the best instead of playing the worst possible scenario out in your mind over and over), you can, and will, help you make a stress free you.

4.  Create faith.  Oh baby, this is important, oh so very important, in learning how to destress.  The opposite of faith is fear, i.e. worry.  Fear is the trigger of the fight or flight response, which is the stress response.  When we have fear, or worry, we trigger this response.  If we have fear, or worry, on a regular basis, we trigger this response on a regular basis.  Triggering  the fight or flight response on a regular basis is unhealthy because it shifts our bodily functions, which ultimately increases the blood pressure, and heart rate, imbalances the hormones, and slows, or shuts down our immune system.  This unhealthy response reeks havoc on the body, which basically creates illnesses.  The fight or flight response is in our body to save us from a life or death situation, not everyday situations.

5.  Have hope.  The opposite of hope is hopelessness, which creates depression.  Depression is the opposite of happiness.  True success is our ability to create happiness, which comes from the self.  When happiness comes from within, we can be happy at anytime, and anywhere.  

Happiness does not come from food, TV, money, shopping, others, or addictions.  Happiness comes from knowing your worth, and your capabilities.  Happiness comes from being connected to your soul, and knowing what is important.  Happiness comes from the thoughts that you regularly think, so if you think lack, you will feel unhappy.  

People are always trying to monetize me, or improve my looks, which is so silly because money, and me being better looking does not make me happy.  Most people think that money, and being better looking creates happiness.  That kind of happiness is an illusion.  Sure money is nice, and looking good makes me feel good but what if I measure my happiness on how many people I help, so that they can be happy?  What if I think that I am perfect, and I don't need to improve?  Sure improvement is good, but focusing on my qualities, rather than criticizing myself, is better thinking for happiness, and hope.  Thoughts like that make me happy, and thoughts like that come from me.

6.  Be charitable; in other words, have charity.  Charity is the pure love of Christ, which is unconditional love.  There are so many stressed out people who hate so easily, and the only thing that does is make themselves feel like shizola, i.e. poop.  Hating easily is unconditional hate.  The opposite of hate is charity.  Charity is love, understanding, and an attitude of service.  Hate is just an attitude of looking for a reason to feel bad.  Move towards love, and you will feel better, or move towards hate, and feel like a poop.

7.  Become connected to God.  I have helped thousands of people in crisis, and despair, and the number one remedy is connecting people back to God.  I say back to God because when we are in crisis, or despair, we are not connected to God, and that is how we get into the crisis.  This is very deep because there is no other greater comfort than what God gives.  I know that this is so, and I see it with every person I help.  

It is my experience that the very few people who do not believe in God, that I help, are continuously coming back to me because they do not get the stress relief from connecting to God.  Also, there are people who say they believe in God, but don't act like it, which is the same as not believing. 

I know a person, many persons actually, who happens to be the most stressed out person I know, who professes to believe in God, but has absolutely no faith, hope, or charity.  Well, maybe a little sometimes.  But if that person really believed in God, that person would, without a doubt, have, or at least try to have, faith, hope, and charity. 

People who do believe in God, that I help, gain skills for life when they reconnect to God, and they rarely return to me for ways to destress. Connecting to God is knowing, or remembering rather, the purpose of life, what is important, and no matter what, everything is gonna be just fine.  Not just fine, but super duper allie ooper.

Okay, so I hope you enjoyed my pithy post about how to destress.  Stay tuned for each item in detail, coming soon, on a blog near you.  He he he...

Have a great weekend my friend, I love you, I truly do, and I want nothing but happiness, and joy for you.

BIG HUGSSSS....

Elizabeth

Books by Elizabeth

Relieving Depression

Hello dear friend...

Relieving depression is what I'd like to write about this day...

Happy February...

Last February I wrote about fun. It's all outlined in a post just for you and you can read it by clicking here if you want to.

The reason I'd like to talk about depression is that it is the last item, number thirteen, on the stress test.

Question thirteen asks, " Are you unable to enjoy yourself even when you are doing something you enjoy?"

If you scored a three, four, or five on this question, chances are you may be sad. There are varying degrees of sadness. It ranges from mild, moderate, to severe. Degrees of unhappiness are accompanied by the length of time a person has felt sorrow.

Some things in life make us sad. For example, a death or a divorce, are occasions that nearly always create varying degrees of sadness. It is normal to feel unhappy when unwanted things happen.

However, life is not meant for anyone to live in a space of unhappiness, which is the opposite of enjoyment.

This is a very delicate subject because people who are depressed are often sick and tired of people telling them what they should do to feel better.

If you are reading this post because someone else is depressed, and you'd like to help them, the best thing you can do is stop giving advice, and love, and just listen. People dealing with chronic depression do not need the pressure of making you feel okay because they don't feel okay.

If you are reading this post because you feel unhappy, the only thing I want to say to you is you are so very important. 

You are so very important to God.

You are so very important to your family and friends.

You are so very important to me.

But most of all...

You are so very important to you.

In my, How to Destress, book I describe reasons why people may be unhappy, and I also provide things a person can do to overcome a lack of enjoyment.

The most important thing a person can do, in my humble opinion, is to begin to believe in him or herself. Believing in the self does not sound like an easy thing to do, to a person who has been with sadness for long periods.

If I could get a sad person to care enough about him or herself to connect to God, I know he or she could, and would find comfort, and would find strength. I know that he or she would learn the reality of God, and then begin to believe in himself or herself.

The crux of depression, often, is that the individual does not believe in himself or herself enough to think a thought in his or her favor, and for any length of time. Any work is hard work for a person suffering from sadness.

If a person could do one thing, and make a long-term commitment to do that one thing, I believe he or she can, and would be lifted. That one thing is to turn to God, then listen and look for spiritual things. Spiritual things are love and joy.

Turn and look, that's all you gotta do but, you gotta do it all day long, every day, for the rest of your life. Practice makes permanent in this human existence.

Turn to, talk to and walk with God, and He will show you He is real. Turning to, talking, and walking with Him, is just a thought away.

If you could think that one thought of turning to God regularly, I believe you will see how real He is, and you will see how important you are.

Focus on God!

Focus on Love!

Focus on talking to God!

Focus on walking with God!

I believe, and know, with all my heart and soul He will comfort you, and strengthen you. When you are comforted and strengthened it is easier to feel self-empowerment, which leads to believing in yourself.

Depression can and will be relieved a little bit at a time if a person will continuously tries to think a thought in his or her favor. That all it takes is a thought pointed toward God. I do not believe it will happen overnight, or even over a year, especially if you've dealt with it for a long time.

The goal is to believe, focus, and never give up.

Never give up!

Never give up on God!

Never give up on yourself!

One last word to the wise, if you are reading this post for someone you believe is suffering from sadness. The best thing you can do besides shutting your mouth ~wink, wink~, loving, and listening is you could turn to God as well. Words rarely ever teach a depressed person how to relieve their depression but unconditional love always heals. Take the advice given above about connecting to God, and you can, and will be the unconditional love a sad person needs.

That's all I got my friend except a hug and a prayer held tight in my heart for you.

I suffered for years with depression, and because of God, I have learned He is real, and that He is true comfort in my lonely times of need. The healing didn't happen overnight it took years. The best part of it all, I am so grateful for the relief that I have that nearly every moment is pure joy.

God bless you, my dear friend...

Speak soon...

Elizabeth

Why do we Suffer?

Hello my dear reader!

How are you doing these days? Praying you are Destressing Your Stress!

Please forgive me for not posting much. I have been doing the Lord's work as best I know how and I'm not necessarily guided to blog for some reason. 

I'm learning more and more each day that God is, in fact, in charge and I am practicing faith, patience, and trust. I've come a long way from my adolescence to enlightenment, and I continue to teeter back and forth. At least I'm teetering on the enlightenment side much more than I use to.

So much to learn about spiritual nature in this life of human conditioning. So much to be grateful for and delicate about with others. 

I'm learning and learning.

I'm lifting and lifting.

I'm listening and listening.

I'm loving and loving.

I'm trying my hardest to live in the Christlike life, and with application and practice, I believe I'm getting better.

I found this draft of a post I wrote two years ago and don't think I ever published it. And if I did, I do not remember. Although, I do write similar posts with repetitive repetition. ~wink~

Anyways, I thought I'd post it.

Here it is...

I would like to discuss why we suffer for just a moment today.

How are you doing? Are you alright? It is my hope and my prayer that you, my dear sweet friend, are enjoying life.

Last night I had a dream God was telling me the most important things are charity, compassion, love, and understanding.

That was the entire dream, nothing more and nothing less. It's strange but, I've had about a dozen dreams in the past couple years of God talking to me.

It is my belief this dream is the key to our suffering...

Do you know I believe that I suffered much in my past? I do not talk about it because suffering is not my focus. Happiness, joy, and vitality are my focus.

Nevertheless, let me share a little glimpse of my struggles with you to give you an idea of why I am where I am in life.

I grew up with all brothers, and I've worked with all men for my entire adult life. My brothers, although very kind, were very tough on me. One of my brothers tried, in my opinion, to kill me twice when I was very young. I had no choice but to learn to toughen up and protect myself. This toughening up prepared me for my career.

When I was a young EMT (Emergency Medical Technician), I was the only female amongst about two hundred and fifty men. I think at the time there may have been one or two females that were part time. My first partner I ever had was extremely verbally abusive to me, and in my first year I was verbally and sexually harassed on more than a few occasions.

Within that first year I was strong enough to speak up, and after investigations some men were terminated. Due to rumors, because not everyone knew the facts, sometimes my work environment was made worse for me. There were quite a few men that made work very difficult for me. Although, I must mention, many of the men I worked with really lifted me with kindness, and most likely aware of what I was going through.

Another struggle I endured within my career was I had five friends die. Also, I was a single Mother, all the while attending and studying for graduate and undergraduate school, and I suffered from PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder).

Amid all of this living, I was trying my hardest to manage my ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder) which probably was the source of my suicidal ideations I had for probably greater than the first half of my life. Frequently, I could not focus or sit still, and it gave me great anger, anxiety, and depression.

All of that is just a fraction of what I went through, not to mention the heartache of raising a teenage boy, which quite possibly was the hardest part because we sometimes fought and it made me feel more horrible than anything else because of the great love I have for him.

Although this is but a glimpse of my challenges, I find it important to disclaim I don't normally discuss the bad because I know that it brings people down, and tends to bring back a bit of negative emotions for me. Many people believe it is necessary to discuss the difficulties in life but it just makes us relive our challenges, which keeps us in negative emotions that DO NOT belong to us.

I have learned to love myself enough to focus on the affirmative, which happens to be Jesus Christ, the light of this world. 

The reason I share this is because all of my adversity has lead me to the amazingly, awesome life I have now. My appreciation for others and myself is too large for words. 

Without my challenges, there is no way I could have such gratitude for my life.

It is my humble opinion that we suffer so that we may learn from human experience that we are spiritual beings. It is my belief that if we did not have a hard time we may never turn to God and discover the power of faith to over come fear, aka the negative.

If we are angry, anxious, or depressed it is quite literally our purpose to connect to God, and overcome these afflictions so that we may have immense joy.

When we release these negative emotions that do not belong to us, we may have happiness, joy, and vitality for life. 

Then! 

Then! 

Then! 

We may be an example to others and lift them up so that they can, and will experience elation too. That is our purpose! That is the purpose for our suffering, so that we may turn to and connect to God, discover He is real, and know joy so we may lift others up too.  

It is possible to be lifted to a level of eagerness and excitement for this life, and be the example so others can and will experience this too.

Just like the kindness given to me that lifted me in times of hardship, by the men in my occupation, when I was suffering such anguish, we can be there for another.

We are all in this together!

Back to my dream...

It is so very important to have charity, compassion, love, and understanding for others but first we must have these behaviors for ourselves. These are the keys to healing. These are the truths to overcoming our difficulties.

The sufferings are the negative emotions, and the remedies come from connecting to God, which is connecting to love by creating behaviors from beliefs of charity, compassion, love, and understanding. It all starts with the self. 

It is my prayer that you, my dear sweet brother/sister, my dear wonderful friend, will thoughtfully connect to God and practice more habits of charity, compassion, love, and understanding for yourself, and that it will become a habit of immense joy, which will relieve all negative emotions.

Our suffering is for our spiritual expansion.

Our suffering is to turn to God, and find out how real He is.

Our suffering is a big part of our purpose. It is our purpose to find out we can seek, and find relief by desire. The human conditioning gives us fear by default, and we can, and will discover we have the free will to choose what we desire.

The lesson is ALWAYS faith, patience, and trust. 

The homework is ALWAYS application, practice, and repetition.

That is all...

Except...

I love you... of course ~wink~

Speak soon...

Elizabeth

Relationship With God

Hello! Hello!

How are you?

Praying, praying, ever praying you are okay!

Responding to a request that I write about how I have a close relationship with God.

But first, let me preface this post with the idea that I write this for one reason and one reason only...

I will write about my relationship with God because I have hope and a prayer in my heart that this will help anyone, someone, or even just one. The help I hope and pray for is pointing a person in the direction of relief from any stress he or she may have. The pressure I talk about is the mental and emotional strain of fear, which is the opposite of love.

My relationship with God is based on a 

DEEP DOWN IN MY HEART AND SOUL FAITH AND LOVE FOR GOD AND ALL MANKIND.  

REALLY!!!

FAITH AND LOVE.  

And this is not the superficial kind where I go to church on Sunday, feel and profess the Love of God, and then go about my business throughout the week, forgetting about this love and faith I have for the Divine and others.

In fact, there is no segregation between my personal life and my professional life. I believe we are all brothers and sisters in this world. I know we are sons and daughters of our Heavenly Father. I love no matter what, and I serve no matter what. 

Jesus Christ said in Matthew Chapter 21, Verse 22, "And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive."

For most of the first half of my life, I suffered enormously, with profound moments of despair and confusion about my worth. There was always an asking God for a connection to Him in that despair and confusion. My continued, never-ending asking brought more and more connection.

In Mathew Chapter 22, Verses 37 through 40, Jesus answers the question, which is the great commandment in the law, and He says, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and all the prophets."

I love these two scriptures because they are the way to a closeness with God.  

Asking, faith and love.

Ask, have faith, and love!!!  

Pretty good affirmations, mantras, and reminders, wouldn't you agree?

I know, without a doubt, that God loves me, and I am to ask, have faith, and love Him and others. 

So, I have been asking, faithing, and loving.

I know, without any doubt, that my asking has brought me evidence, which has led to my knowing God is real.

I know, without a doubt, that my faith in God gives me confidence, happiness, energy, joy, and vitality; therefore, this knowledge is why I maintain and sustain my relationship with Him.

MY FAITH AND MY LOVE FOR EVERYTHING ON THIS EARTH, ABOVE IT AND BELOW IT, ENHANCE MY CLOSENESS, MY CONNECTION, AND MY COOPERATION WITH GOD.

Faith, love, closeness, connection, and cooperation with the Divine eliminate doubt, fear, and worry, which is what destressing yourself is all about.

In my journey thus far, I have discovered that there are two emotions: fear and love. Every emotion falls under one or the other. 

I have also discovered that all negative emotions fall under fear. For the most part, I have released my fear and negative emotions, which is how and why I love so much.

"There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love."~ 1 John 4:18, New Testament, The Holy Bible, KJV

Please! Please! Please!

Understand, I have practiced this love over fear for many, many, many years, and I have pointed multiple people in the direction of finding their practice of destressing, i.e., overcoming fear and living in love. 

Certainly, I am not perfect at it, so I continue to practice every day.

An important thing I have discovered is that years of conditioning are very powerful. My anger, anxiety, depression, and despair were practiced for years and were all very strong. 

Without God, meditation, and study, I could not and would not know what I know about asking, faith, and love and continue to practice it.

Something else significant is that human conditioning trains us to beat ourselves up, which is not conducive to love and/or faith in ourselves. Love and faith in ourselves are part of the path to a genuine connection to God. 

I practice the art and skill of NOT beating myself up or criticizing myself. This is a huge part of connecting to God and creating life's happiness, energy, and vitality.

I know I am not better than anyone, and my value and worth have everything to do with communicating, connecting, and cooperating with God.

I know we are all critical to God, and what is essential to God is vital to me. That is what life is about, knowing spiritual things and living that knowing.

That is the crux of my relationship with God.

Praying for your asking, faithing, and loving.

That's all I got, my friend.

God bless...

Speak soon...

Elizabeth Stanfill 

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

Destressing Addiction & Binging

Hello there...

Destressing Addiction and Binging is the item of this day...

How are you doing my friend?

Hoping and praying that you're finding relief if you need too.

The number six item on the stress test is, "Do you binge on or are you addicted to certain activities, alcohol, caffeine, tobacco, or any form of pharmaceutical, over the counter, or illegal drug?

In my book, How to Destress via Stress Test & Stress Relief, I discuss connecting to God when it comes to addiction. For with God all things are possible.

The thing about addiction and binging is, a person that has struggled with anything can, does, and will beat him or herself up over it.

The indulgences become a hate/love relationship. We love doing the addiction but we hate our self afterwards for doing it.

Weird, I know!

The most powerful thing anyone can do besides quit the unhealthy behavior, is to turn to God for help, which I write about in my book.

There is more...

When we turn to God, I believe, the thing we must ask for is belief in Him to help us, and our self to have the strength to overcome this particular weakness.

Addiction is something that is not easy to give up because the individual does not believe he or she can, and/or wants to. A person may have, or believe he or she may have tried everything, and so they give up trying. A person may not want to give up the addiction at all, and so they don't believe in trying.

Turning to God for faith in Him, and the self will give great power to anyone's belief. Not only great power but also evidence that God truly is real.

There's more...

Turning to God is just the beginning. One must contemplate, and work it out in his or her mind what they can, and want to do.

For example: if you want to quit drinking, think about it more often in the faithful way because what a person does is beat him or herself up for drinking, and not quitting. The contemplation would be how good it can, and will feel without a drink. 

Turning to God in faith, and contemplating success is your authority, and free agency to govern your mind in your favor.

The human experience teaches and trains us to do, do, do rather than think, think, think.

Turn to God...

Ask for faith in Him, and yourself...

Contemplate your success...

Stop beating yourself up...

And, add some meditation in the mix for quieting the insecure mind.

This is all very simple stuff, and may not be easy, but you have the authority, and the free agency to choose your thoughts and govern your mind, which can, and will lead to success.

Finally... Never, Ever, Ever Give Up!

Endure to the end, and be faithful to you!

I'm hoping and ever praying that helps, if you need it.

God bless you my dear friend...

I love you so much, because that is what I do.

I love...

Speak soon...

Elizabeth

Spiritual Advice

Hello, my dear friend! 

Happy December!

How are you doing today? 

I have a prayer in my heart that you are calm, confident, and cooperative. 

As I have been contemplating faith, patience, and trust, as discussed in my last post, Destressing Via Spiritual Experiments, I thought about the immense amount of suffering I endured in the first half of my life due to fear, impatience, and distrust. 

For as long as I can remember, I have sought a connection to God by reading and studying my scriptures. Also, I've been praying every morning, daily, and every night and attended church every single Sunday for years. I've served when asked and always paid tithe.

I do not know if anyone spoke magnificent words that helped me, but I know I have had superb people who were an example to me.

My point? 

I've been seeking a connection to God for a very long time, and all my spiritual education and experiences have added evidence to my undertaking.

Looking back, not one person could or did give me advice on how to connect to God in a way that could and would relieve my stress, aka my suffering. Some individuals meant well, but much of the advice was not spiritual. It was more from confused human conditioning.

Maybe people did give me spiritual advice, but I didn't hear it.

One thing I know for sure is that there have been people in my life whom I still think about today, who are and were excellent examples to me in spiritual practice. Some of these individuals didn't, and don't, even talk about God. 

When I think about these people, my heart fills with intense love and sentimental memories. These people are, to this day, calm, confident, and cooperative.

When we work together with others, we are harmonious with ourselves, and when we are in harmony with ourselves, we symphonize with God. 

Human conditioning can teach us that life is a competition; therefore, we think we must get what we want and how we want it, which can create friction at home and work.

My humble opinion is that we are all born calm, confident, and cooperative, but some of us are conditioned in competition and trained to be antagonists.

This evidence can clearly be seen among people who fight to be right by making others wrong. 

For example, when a person may disagree with a family member and/or friend, the competitive person will argue to be correct and get angry because he or she doesn't want to be wrong. Then that person will continue to debate beyond the presence of the other, in their mind, and to other people. 

A calm, confident, and cooperative person will be okay with the disagreement and let it go. They are unattached to being wrong or right because they understand differences of opinions and that no one thinks exactly alike.

If I could have been a person, who could have spoken words of spiritual advice to my younger self, these are the first words I would have spoken...

"Life is not a competition! Life is a symphony, which can be had by learning, listening, and loving to understand."

"Open your spiritual eyes and see the evidence!"

"Look at the successful people and observe. Success means happiness, harmony, and healthy. Harmonious and healthy meaning in body, mind, and soul."

"Notice how these successful people behave. They are calm, confident, and cooperative because they are thoughtful. People who are angry, anxious, and pugnacious are insecure, disconnected from God, and thoughtless."

Then I'd say, with all the love in my heart...

"Dear one, dear sweet one, practice calm cooperation with others, which will lead to calm cooperation with yourself, which is calm cooperation with God."

"This is how you do it..."

"Fall in love with listening to others with the heart's compassion, as Jesus did. This is characteristic of being Christlike. Talk less, listen more, and try to understand with kindness."

"Caring leads to understanding. To know that everyone is doing the very, very, very best with what has been given in life thus far is understanding." 

"To argue with, blame, complain, and criticize others is an unsympathetic habit that focuses on a person's imperfections. In addition, these are the practiced patterns of insecurity."

"You do not have to be right with anyone. The idea of having to be right is part of the human conditioning that says my worth is being right. This leads to insecurity, which closes the mind to leveling up emotionally, mentally, physically, and spiritually."

"We are all imperfect, and it is not necessary to focus on the faults of human existence. To do so is but a training anyone can overcome."

"You are a spiritual being. Therefore, you have the will with the power to focus and understand life. This leads to you being, doing, and having what you are meant to, and the only one who keeps you from any of it is you and your unbecoming attitude from your perception."

"Open your mind!" 

"Use your will to focus!" 

"Open your mind to happiness, harmony, and health evidence. Use your will to focus on creating a connection to God via practicing calm, confidence, and cooperation."

Then I'd tell myself...

"Here is your spiritual homework that must be read every night, so it may be put into memorization and practice every day until it is permanent in attitude and personality."

"First, practice being calm." 

"When you wake, set the day by taking a deep breath, exhale, feeling the body relax and the mind quiet. Remind yourself to do this throughout the day, and fall asleep at night with this same practice. It may be tough for you at first, but remind yourself that you are not an animal or a child and have the intellect to choose your practice."

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

"Second, notice in this practice of calming the body and quieting the mind, you are in the space of safety and security. This is the power of the eternal now. The mind will have you think of the future or past, which gives way to insecurity, but the safety and security in the practice of the present moment give a habit of confidence."

"Third, talk less, learn to listen, and learn by listening to understand. Give up the urge to speak any opinions of pettiness. Accusations, judgments, and assumptions of nonspiritual things are petty, in that they are insignificant to the calm, confidence, and cooperation of the moment." 

"Refrain from unsolicited advice. Unsolicited advice says, "you can be better," which insinuates, "you are not good enough." 

"If we could know how good enough we are, we'd accomplish even more amazing things!"

"Fourth, butt out of peoples' business." 

"Do! Not! Ever! Gossip!"

"If you are going to be in anybody's business, let it be bragging about them or to make sure they are okay."

"Fifth, think better of others no matter what!" 

"This one is huge!" 

"When we think better of others, we are doing unto others that which we want to be done unto us. We want people to give us the benefit of the doubt. Therefore, give others the gift of giving the benefit of the doubt."

"Did you know that you give yourself away by the words you speak about others?" 

"For example, when we speak assumptions of others being passive-aggressive, we are telling people that's what we are." 

"We accuse others' from our perspective. That's what people mean when they say you can only understand from your perspective." 

"If you accuse someone of doing something on purpose to hurt you, you are telling your perspective of hurting people on purpose."

"Now, you may say, "I know when someone is being passive-aggressive or hurting me on purpose." But to say these things you are saying, you read minds. If you, in fact, read minds, I'm pretty confident that you'd be a millionaire for reading minds by now."

"Psychology 101 educates, believing we can read minds is an inaccurate view of reality that leads to personality disorders."

I digress...

Finally, I'd say, to myself, "if you want to be connected to God, as you've been diligently praying for most of your life, condition yourself in the habits given above by concentrating and focusing on them into memorization and daily training."

"Never beat yourself up, and never give up!"

"Permanence comes with practice!"

"This is the way!"

And that's what I'd say.

I believe, with all my heart and soul, if someone could have convinced me of the above words, twenty-eight years ago, when I was twenty-eight, I'd be where I am now in my calm, confident connection to God, through cooperation with life, and others, probably twenty years ago.

Don't get me wrong, I have zero regrets! I love my past because I would not be the harmonious, loving, spiritual being that I feel I am today. 

My favorite part of life is the faithful and fearless connection to God that gives me guidance and inspiration to lift others and myself. The next favorite part is the smiles and the thank you's of relief because I know what it is to suffer, and I hold a prayer tight in my heart for comfort for anyone who seeks it.

I am but an infant in my spirituality, and I am eager, exhilarated, and excited for my learning to understand more.

This earnestness, my friend, is why I love to learn, love to listen, and love to understand.

My prayer, dear friend, is that somehow, some way, my words can touch the heart of the seeker of connecting to God.

God bless...

Take good care...

Until next time...

Speak soon...

Elizabeth Stanfill

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