Stress & Anxiety

You either are hurt or will have your heart broken eventually. This is the price of love. Yet when it happens to you the absolute worst thing you can do is wall yourself off from people. Here's the thing; it will always be a person or a group of people that hurt you. This is unavoidable. Our natural reaction is to isolate ourselves from people because we fear having our hearts broken again. This is a mistake of huge proportions. Here are some common fears when your heart has been broken: * You fear what others think of you. * You are embarrassed over how or why you were hurt. * You fear...

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In simple terms, the greatest fear that all of us have is the fear of the unknown. More often than not, our imagination supplies thoughts, images, and feelings that simply are not true. Our childish nightmares have only grown more sophisticated as we've grown older. As children we would look at the shadow in our closet and imagine the monster drooling and leering at us from the darkness. As adults we still fear the unknown. It's just a bit more complex than our childish fancies. Now, our fears are preyed upon by what we imagine. We fear rejection, people's unspoken opinions, potential difficulties,...

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SYMPTOM #1 - YOU BEGIN TO MAKE WILD EXCUSES NOT TO FACE YOUR FEAR We all have to face our fears. This is a normal part of life. But to make wild excuses so that you don't have to face them is a sure symptom of paranoia. We have a running joke in our Church with a dear older gentleman who is greatly beloved by us. I often tease him, saying that it will be his turn to preach next week. He always responds with a, "Well, I've got a dentist appointment on that day." What's funny about that is that he doesn't have any teeth-just the false ones. But that is so like someone who is paranoid. They...

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It is important to recognize some of the main symptoms of a midlife crisis before you can do anything about them. This article will outline the top three symptoms and what you can do. FEELINGS OF A WASTED LIFE If you are thirteen, you probably aren't feeling like your life has been wasted--after all, too much of your life still lies before you. But if you are 50 years old you probably realize the majority of your life is over. If, upon looking back on your life, you have feelings of regret and of a wasted life you are experiencing one of the key symptoms of a midlife crisis. It could be that...

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Making mistakes is part of life. But making mistakes in front of your peers, family, friends, or loved ones often brings a sense of embarrassment. Fearing this embarrassment will invariably cause you even more humiliation. Find out why and what you can do. Embarrassment is the natural result of believing that others see you as a fool, stupid, or even obsolete. When boiled down to its most basic component, embarrassment is a feeling of rejection. That's right-rejection. When people laugh at us, snicker, point fingers, or do any other act of humiliation we feel rejected. It is the fear of rejection,...

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In my role as a Pastor and counselor I encounter many people who have found themselves seemingly at a dead end in life. Not only do they lack purpose-or the purpose they have is not one they sought or wanted-but they seem to blunder from disaster to disaster on a fairly consistent basis. And they can't seem to break away from it. Every attempt to break away ends up landing them back in it. There are many, many people who have such a life. For the most part, unless they're fairly young and inexperienced, they don't even need to be convinced that they need to break away from their lifestyle, they...

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I've been counseling for over a decade and in dealing with people who suddenly experience a midlife crisis, I've learned several things. First, anyone can have one no matter what their occupation, history, or accomplishments are. I'd have to say there are several factors or a combination of factors that contribute towards a mid-life crisis. They can affect anyone who isn't prepared for it. I do think there is a way to avoid a midlife crisis. But to do so, you have to prepare yourself for it. There are several contributing factors to a midlife crisis. We'll discuss the two most common ones...

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When we are young we get into our head that we are somewhat invincible. We think that the world will just lay down at our feet. As a result, we unintentionally set a pattern that billions of others in both the present and the past have fallen victim to. It usually leads to a midlife crisis. Let me explain. No one makes decisions in life thinking that if they do, they will be miserable. Everyone makes decisions on what they believe will bring them a measure of happiness. If they did not believe it, they wouldn't do it. Young people the world over make the same mistakes as the previous generation-having...

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Primarily, a midlife crisis is caused by two realizations: 1. The realization that they haven't accomplished much or anything that is truly worthwhile. 2. The realization that they probably have fewer years ahead of them than they do behind them. And that they are no longer as capable as they once were as a younger person. In many cases, the realizations are true. Many, many people waste their youth in frivolity, carelessness, and wastefulness. But being stuck on your past mistakes is even a worse mistake. DON'T LET THE PAST DOMINATE YOUR PRESENT OR YOUR FUTURE In ancient Roman times,...

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Depression is increasingly on the rise in our society. Its diagnosis has exploded over the last twenty years, and as a result, the medical field has responded with pill after pill. But depression isn't a disease. It can't be transmitted from person to person like the flu. So why is depression on the rise? There is much speculation, such as our fast paced society, the rigors of work related stress, higher social expectations, and more demanding social conformities. It's ironic, really, that in a society that is bent on entertainment and comfort we are more depressed than those who lived on the old frontier...

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