Truth + Gratitude

As a human, I experience some days that just blindside me before I'm even dressed. Usually, these days are not experienced at the hands of tangible tragedy, emergency, or unforeseen circumstance.  Usually, they are simply at the hands of the mish-mosh of thoughts and feelings in my head. 

But this post is really not about the down morning I have had-- better, it is about how I found myself sitting here, about an hour later, feeling ready to face the day!  Over the years, I have built up a tactical fortress of go-to methods for dealing with these bouts of the feelz.

Sidebar for those of you who don't get the feelz: though I am technically a "feeler" (wooo, MBTI), it is only by a couple of points.  Often, I think we make the mistake of looking at people as one or the other, instead of "somewhere on the spectrum" of thinking and feeling.  I, my friends, am smack dab in the center-- so if you are a "thinker", you stay right here.  You experience this stuff too!  Perhaps instead of "feelz" for you, though, it's anxiety or overthinking.  Right?  Well, lucky little me, I experience some of both.

So back to that tactical weaponry.  It boils down to this: remembering what is true, amidst untrue thoughts.

For myself, my greatest ally in doing that is my faith, and quite literally, The Creator of The Universe.  Still, even with the Big Guy on my side, the main challenge is in remembering what he has said is true about life, about me and about himself-- in short, The Bible.

Many days, I go straight to my little pocket sized scripture, Bible.com or my YouVersion Bible app.  Let's be honest though, sometimes we are too crippled by our mood to take the initiative to do so-- this morning was one such morning for me.  These moments are when I am most thankful for fellow creative believers, and the Truth-injected media that is readily available to us!  These are my top go-to sources of scriptural Truth (not necessarily in this order), when I'm feeling too *bleh* to move (literally or metaphorically).

Ooo, aptly named, right?  I discovered SRT several years ago as a bible plan option on the YouVersion Bible App, and pretty quickly began reading directly on their website (this is pre-SRT app).  Having that daily rhythm of both reading scriptural Truth, and having a place to process my thoughts, or read the reflections of other women, was awesome!  Still to this day, I try to start my mornings with SRT-- and when I do, I have to say that my day is definitely begins with more gratitude and a more peaceful spirit.

PS - There is also a He Reads Truth for the gents!

My main source of this is Spotify, where I've built different playlists over time.  One of which is a list that I call Contemplative, that is where I go when I "just can't even"-- that happened this morning.  In all seriousness though, there is nothing like hearing truth aloud, and music that proclaims Biblical Truth is a wonderful way to experience that, and to remind our hearts and minds of what is true.  These are some lyrics from a song that really struck, and brought me out of the fog this morning:

Prayer is both an opportunity to communicate directly with God, and more of that hearing/seeing scriptural truth concept-- praying aloud or in written form really helps solidify the reality of God's Truth in a tangible way!  Sometimes you just have to talk/write it out. If that sounds silly, I dare you to try it in earnest the next time you are feeling glum! I usually end up potently reminded of the gratitude that I have for everything I've been given in this life, despite my struggles. :)

Despite the fact that these are my personal go-to's, I'm sure there are many other forms of effective weaponry against spiritual/emotional/mental turmoil-- I'd definitely still learning what works best, but am confident that it's always recalling Truth in some way. Truth gets to the core of things in a way that chocolate, that favorite old movie, or puppy kisses just can't-- except maybe the puppies. ;)