Do you ever just plop down on the down on the sofa and say, “Dang, I’m tired? I’m worn out from all the running around today.
If I don’t slow down, and relieve some of this stress, I’m going to croak!”
Or perhaps your doctor tells you, “You better start taking it easy or I’m going to have one less patient.”
For many of us this downward spiral started back in high school when we finally decided we had to “grow up.” Our drive to succeed contributed to the stress we placed on ourselves to make the team, join the club, be elected as a class officer, or finishing four years as an honor student.
After high school we sought the best job possible or continued our education in search of the degree that we hoped would pay big returns, failing to factor in the cost of student loans. We might have decided to see the world, paid for by our Uncle Sam.
We knew what our first new car would be and longed to purchase a house with a two-car garage on a nice sized lot with a white picket fence. We would marry our high school sweetheart or a special someone who came into our lives at just the right time; and planned or unplanned we would start our contribution to the statistic of an average 2.4 children per family.
We were on our way to living the American Dream. It wouldn’t be long before we would find out how turbulent life could be.
Homes would be damaged or destroyed by storms; parents would die; children would get into trouble; spouses would be divorced; we could no longer expect to have the same job until retirement, our health would decline, often from working too much for fear of losing our jobs or due to our attempt to keep up with the Joneses.
We would witness wars around the world, civil unrest, loss of morals, loss of respect for human life, weak national leadership, a decline in the stability of families, a loss of civic pride and a turning away from prayer and the Church.
That final calamity, “turning away from prayer and the Church,” is what I believe to be the source of most of our stress, for the prophet Isaiah (57:21) proclaims, “No peace for the wicked! Says my God.”
But God being the infinite provider of peace tells us through St. Paul how to restore tranquility and restfulness to our lives when he says in 1 Pt 3:10-11, “Whoever would love life and see good days … must turn from evil and do good, seek peace and follow after it.”
There are simple things that we can do in our lives that bring us temporary peace and it’s up to us to make the time to do them. Most benefit only ourselves, but some benefit others. If you wonder how benefitting others can bring us peace, all I can say is, “Just try it!”
Here are some ideas that are self-serving: Reading, especially the Bible; enjoying hobbies such as fishing, hunting, golf, gardening, knitting, scrap booking; games such as cross word puzzles and solitaire; taking a walk around the neighborhood or park; riding our bike on the levee or going to a playground and just observing children at play.
Some of the above can be done with others, thus multiplying the peace benefits. Additionally we might seek out group activities in games such as chess, scrabble, bingo or poker. We can, individually or in groups, visit the lonely such as at a nursing home or assisted living center and can bring food or other comforts to the needy.
Some final ideas for finding peace in our lives are to seek support from our family and friends; go to Church on a regular basis; start and end each day with prayer; and finally, slow down and smell the roses, and don’t forget the comforting words of Christ, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you.
Not as the world gives do I give it to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid.” (Jn 14:27)
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