I have been reading and learning about anxiety in podcasts, books, and articles and the best way to rid yourself of anxiety and I’ve come across a few gems. Some that I’ve shared with you in the past— the app Happify, podcasts by Jody Moore “Better than Happy,” and others. I mentioned in a post about Happify recommending distraction to ebb the cycle of anxiety and I have discovered that this method is effective, as long as you pick the right form of distraction, but even distraction can lead to further your anxiety if you allow it to take over. My kids and I watched the new movie, Soul on Disney plus, and while I won’t dive into the things I don’t like about the movie, there was one bit that I found very profound and important to understand. When they were visiting the “zone”— the space between the physical and the spiritual there were some “lost souls” who had allowed their passions to take control of their lives.
In our Relief Society lesson today from the talk by Elder Anderson, entitled, “We talk of Christ,” she shared how we can think of Christ when we are allowing negative, impure, or even anxious thoughts plague our minds. I have been thinking a lot about virtue. Virtue, I believe, stems from powerful thinking and powerful thinking is exactly what all the research I’ve been doing is training my mind to do. When Christ said he knew that someone had touched him whilst being thronged by the masses he said, “I perceive that virtue is gone out of me” (Luke 8:46). When we have enough self-control, faith, and all of the Christ-like virtues really lead back to our inner most thoughts, then we have a source of power to combat the anxiety or any negative thought that might invade our minds. This method is far greater than using distraction that could lead towards obsessiveness, but I must say we have to be generous with ourselves and realize that it will take just as long, if not longer, as training our bodies for a great marathon or physical feet. As we gain this power of great mindfulness it will be easier to listen and follow the spirit and recognize His voice in the midst of chaos.
This week with the kids has been pretty uneventful. Bev and Mav hopefully go back to preschool on Tuesday, but to be honest, it’s been a joy to have them home. They play so well together and only seem to fight when I tell them to clean up their messes. Harvey’s first tooth finally popped through yesterday and he gets closer and closer to walking as he masters standing every chance he gets. Max and I are pretty worried about our pet cat as he has been missing since last Sunday, but he disappeared for a few days last year around this same exact time, so I have a little bit of hope he will return. He is a lot easier to take care of than our dog, but our kids love both of these animals so much it will be quite the learning experience to guide our kids through this loss.
Andy had a busy week at work, with very limited time at home. He worked 13 hrs Saturday and Sunday this week with a lot of intensive care patients. Yesterday, he spent most of his time taking care of just one patient. This patient was their due to drug use, but Andy gave him his full attention and expertise. It was a tough situation with a lot of moving parts and Andy still took the time to pray before procedures. One of the nurses caught him praying and said, “I like that.” I like that too. It means so much to me that I have a husband who loves Heavenly Father as much as I do and brings me closer to Him through his example. Andy is much better at remembering to pray. I hold his prayers with me when he leaves early in the morning or gets home late at night— when I am half asleep or all the way asleep with much appreciation and tenderness. They are some of my favorite moments with him. I didn’t take many pictures this week- so here are a few just for fun.
