Transitional Friday: When Change isn’t your Idea

Life throws us a curve ball at times and change is forced upon us.  This can be through the loss of a job, loss of a loved one, abusive relationship, natural occurrence, decision of another person, tragic accident and number other causes.

So, how do you deal with change when it isn’t your idea?

  1. Cry—sometimes we just need to cry and express our pain.  There are times when there just aren’t words. mourn
  2. Mourn your loss—a loss is a loss, regardless of how large or small.  Even if the change is one that we want, our life is changed and we need to mourn and say goodbye to that part of our lives.  Sometimes this is a few hours or a day and other times it is months or years.
  3. Pray and ask God for guidance and to help you move on—in all things we need to pray and ask God what He would have to do now.
  4. Accept your new normal—we have a new normal, even if it is for an interim time.  We have to accept this and learn how to live in this new reality.
  5. Determine your ultimate destination—we need to decide what our goals are.  What do we ultimately want in life?  Sometimes it takes weeks or months to determine what we may truly want and what God’s will might be for our lives.  We mustn’t forget to seek God’s will.
  6. Make a list of steps to reach that goal—now that we know where we are going, we need to access where we are and the steps to get from one place to the next.  Again, sometimes our goals are short term and other time they are long term.reach
  7. Work hard towards those goals—we work hard to meet these goals, whether it is returning to school, searching for a job, selling a house, etc.
  8. Continue to put one foot in front of another—there are days when life gets difficult and we don’t feel that we can keep going.  We take a deep breath and continue to put one foot in front of the other.
  9. Reach for your dreams—never give up—if this is truly what God has laid on your heart, never give up.  Ask for His help and keep pushing through no matter how difficult life gets at times.

Sometimes life altering events, lead to positive change.

What other ways do you deal with change?

 

Tweetables:

When Change isn’t your Idea

Techniques to deal with change 

Transitional Friday: Facing Your Fears

We all have fears!  I don’t like heights!

I’ve also overcome some fears, such as flying.

So, how do we face and overcome our fears?fear

  1. Make a list of your fears—make a list of all of your fears.  Which one is the easiest to cross of your list?
  2. Challenge your thoughts and the reason behind it—ask ourselves why this is a fear, what has caused this to be a fear and why you are fearful of this event.
  3. Make a list of steps to overcome this fear—make a list of steps that need to be taken in order to overcome this fear.
  4. Ask yourself what is the worst case scenario—then ask what the worst case scenario is.  With my fear of heights, that would be falling and breaking bones.
  5. Relax and visualize yourself going through the motions of what you are afraid offear2
  6. Revisit past victories—what fears have you overcome in the past?  How did you do this?
  7. Ask your family and friends for encouragement—we all need encouragement to keep moving forward and reach our goals.
  8. Take deep breaths—often deep breathing calms us and helps us to have perspective on the matter at hand.
  9. Face your fear head on—you may want a friend with you to lend emotional support

How do you overcome your fears?

Tweetables:

Facing Your Fears in Life Transitions

Transitional Friday: Thinking Positively Through the Transition

When life gets us down, it is difficult to see the light at the end of the tunnel.  The devil pounces on the darkness and insecurities to bring us down.  In order to see the good and move forward, we need to see the positive.

This has often been a personal struggle for me, but each day I work to have a better attitude and move forward.

  1. Write your goalsgoal
  2. Write stepping stones towards your goals—what steps are necessary to reach the goals made.
  3. Reward yourself—find a way to reward ourselves for each small accomplishment we’ve made.  This could be a book or CD, massage, favorite restaurant, etc.
  4. Write positive affirmations and repeat them—I find that writing and repeating positive affirmations helps me to begin to believe them in time.  I heard one speaker {I wish I could remember who at the moment} state that they state these right before bedtime every night.
  5. Reflect on your situation, what brought you here and how far you’ve already come—I find it difficult at times not to dwell on how far I still have to go, but I have to look at how far I’ve come.
  6. Replace negative thoughts—don’t allow the dark places to crowd in and bring me down to where I’m useless.  The positive affirmations really help. prayer
  7. Pray and ask for God’s guidance and peace
  8. Listen to uplifting music and watch heartwarming movies—these lift the mind and help me to change perspective.  I have to remind myself I deserve this also.
  9. Find a peaceful place {ex. Lake, mountains, meadow, etc.} and remind yourself this too shall pass

What do you do to think positively?

 

Tweetables:

Thinking Positively Through the Transition

Transitional Friday: Finding Support in Life Transitions

There are times when we feel all alone or there is no one to talk with.  I’ve struggled with this often.  As a caregiver, I often find it difficult to have the opportunity to become involved with other groups or organizations due to my responsibilities.  However, regardless of where we are in life, we all need a support system. Finding support in life transitionssupport

  1. Have a friend to talk to—everyone needs a friend to confide in and trust, as well as to just hang out with and have fun at times.
  2. Find a support group—a group of likeminded people going through the same struggles often helps us to feel that we are not alone.
  3. Get involved with an organization like Celebrate Recovery or Divorce Care {if you are dealing with addiction or divorce}.
  4. Find programs for your need {ex. Several local churches have Employment Support Groups for those searching for jobs}journaling
  5. Don’t Be Afraid to Share Your Feelings—often we may be embarrassed to share our feelings, think no one cares or just be afraid to speak out.  We can’t keep it all bottled up, because this isn’t healthy.  We need to get it out and express ourselves.
  6. Try Journaling—often it helps to write your feeling.  If journaling doesn’t work, try expressing yourself through music or art.
  7. Get involved with a local church—find a local church to get involved and join a group {this could be a Sunday School class, small discussion group, senior adult group, Women or Men’s group, etc.}

Who supports you?

 

Tweetables:

Finding Support in Life Transitions

Transitional Friday: Ecclesiastes 3: 18-22, The Purpose of Life

We are wrapping up our look at Ecclesiastes 3 and a season for all times.

I also said to myself, “As for humans, God tests them so that they may see that they are like the animals—God tests us to show us that we have the beastly quality of animals and will prey upon others.

 Surely the fate of human beings is like that of the animals—man is frail     ashes and dust

the same fate awaits them both—their existence is temporary

As one dies, so dies the other—all living, breathing animals {whether human or not} will died one day

All have the same breath—we all breath the same air

humans have no advantage over animals—we do not have long to live in righteousness and honor before God

Everything is meaningless—if we’re not living for God then it is all meaningless
 All go to the same place—life is fleeting and we all go to the same place

all come from dust—we came from dust ; Abraham asked in Genesis 18:27, “who am I but ashes and dust”  return to earth

and to dust all return—one day we will all return to dust; think about the burial ceremony, we say “ashes to ashes and dust to dust”
 Who knows if the human spirit rises upward and if the spirit of the animal goes down into the earth?—only God knows if the human spirit goes up and the animal spirit goes down.  Some may say if the saved goes to heaven and the unsaved goes into the earth.

So I saw that there is nothing better for a person than to enjoy their work—God wants us to enjoy our work and to work hard

because that is their lot—because that is why He made us.  He has a purpose for ALL of our lives.
For who can bring them to see what will happen after them—only God knows the purpose for our lives, how we will touch others and what will happen in the afterlife.  He also knows the rewards this life will bring into the afterlife.

What is your purpose in life?

 

Tweetables:

The Purpose of Life

Transitional Friday: Ecclesiastes 3: 11-14, The Fear of the Lord

For the past two weeks we have been discussing God’s time and that there is a season for everything.

He has made everything beautiful in its time—think about how flowers are planted and in their own time become beautiful.  The same can be said for circumstances in our lives.    fear of Lord

He has also set eternity in the human heart—God wired us to long for eternity and to want the blessings only eternity can bring.  God made us for himself and we are emotionally wired to long for him.

yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end—we cannot begin to imagine the greatness of God and all that He has done and All that He will do.  He tells us that “my ways are not your ways.” We will never understand this until we are with Him and He reveals it to us.
 I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy—God wants us to be happy.  when life is difficult this can be hard, but even in the most difficult times He wants us to be happy.

and to do good while they live—God wants us to do good while we are on this earth, this includes helping others.
 That each of them may eat and drink—we should eat and drink, but not in excess.  This is often a challenge.

and find satisfaction in all their toil—God wants us to find satisfaction in our hearts and our journey, even when we’re not at a place where we want to be.  Personally, this is something I’ve struggled with and have to continually pray about.gift from God

this is the gift of God—everything, even our hardships, are a gift from God
 I know that everything God does will endure forever—what God gives us and the lessons He teaches us through the good times, as well as through the hardships {more often through the hardships} will last forever.

nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it—God set the plan of life and no matter how hard we try, we cannot change or alter that plan.

God does it so that people will fear him—God wants us to fear Him.  We are told that  “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” {Psalm 111:10}.  Once we begin to trust God’s wisdom, then we can begin to fear Him.

Do you fear the Lord?

 

Tweetables:

The Fear of the Lord 

Transitional Friday: Ecclesiastes 3: 6-10, God has a time and purpose for everything

Last week we began talking about the various seasons of life mentioned in the book of Ecclesiastes.   This week let’s take a look at the deep commitments and inner decisions that relate to the spirit and soul.  The two examples for each are opposites of one another. search

a time to search—there is a time when we need to search for what’s next in our life, whether it is a spouse, job, house, friendships, etc.

a time to give up—and there is also a time when these have served a purpose in our lives and we need to give these up.

a time to keep—there are some things we never need to give up, such as our morals and values

a time to throw away—sometimes there are things in our lives we need to throw away.  This can be our habits, resentments and attitudes, or physical items such as old clothing, out of date electronics or clearing out a room, attic or garage.

a time to tear—there is a time to cry or tear up, also to pull apartlove

a time to mend—there is a time to heal and bring back to gather

a time to be silent—we’ve all heard the adage that “silence is golden”; there are times when it is better to say nothing and to be silent

a time to speak—there are other times when we need to speak up and share, especially if there is something bringing harm to another person

a time to love—God is all about love and wants us to love others the way He would love them

a time to hate—we can often hate the actions of an individual or group, such as when John Newton {author of Amazing Grace} realized his lifestyle of selling slaves was wrong.  He changes his heart, hated the actions and fought to change the laws.

a time for war—there is a time when war is necessaryGods perfect timing

a time for peace—there is a time when war is not needed and we should embrace peace.

What do workers gain from their toil?—what do we gain from our efforts and hard work?  Is it worth it?
 I have seen the burden God has laid on the human race—the choice God gives us in choosing the actions to take is a heavy one.  Often the lines may seem blurred and the best guidance is to seek God.

God has a time and purpose for everything.  We need to remember to seek Him through prayer and Bible study through these life altering decisions.

Which of these decisions has been a struggle for you?

 

Tweetables:

God has a time and purpose for everything