Courage To Rise Above

2011-11-21T22:32:00.001-06:00

Thank you for visiting my blog for the upcoming book, "Courage To Rise Above." I would like to share the first chapter with you. I wrote this book to encourage those living with a mental illness to gain strength and wisdom from the Bible. Faith and prayer are essential to emotional wholeness and healing in this daily walk.

Chapter One: Staying Positive in a Negative World

Many individuals find their own way of dealing with stress,conflict, and adversity. Differentapproaches work for different personality types and habits. My regular routine is to stay grounded by regularprayer and Bible devotions. If I startmy day off that way, it helps tremendously to be fresh for the day in attitudeand focus. The shelter of God’s love foryou can be your constant refuge.

Psalm 18:2 The Lord is my Rock, my Fortress and my Deliverer, My God is my Rock in whom I take Refuge.

A perfect example of this would be a lighthouse. Imagine a stormy, rough ocean tide that iscrashing into the side of a lighthouse. The storms of life may seem like they are taking over your thoughts andyour daily routine. But if you areinside the lighthouse, the storms will not affect you. Jesus Christ is the foundation. He will hold onto you as you keep your lifecentered on him.

I surround myself with positive, Bible believing friends andfamily. I don’t let negativity into thatsphere of influence. You must constantlychallenge yourself to remember this.

By keeping your circle tightly knit together, you willeliminate the corrosion of a positive mental attitude and heart.

Sometimes negative friends must be let go completely. You may need to restructure who you arespending time with. Occasionally peoplejust don’t understand mental illness, or have the energy or desire to keep upwith you. My sister once said I had a“roller coaster brain”. She meant well,and was just frustrated with my thought patterns. I was sick at the time and just wantedsomeone to listen to me. But we canlearn from those times and understand ourselves better. I love my sister very much. It’s just a perfect analogy that helped megrow.

I have a lot of drive and ambition. When I am focused on something, I won’t quituntil it’s completed. Keeping a dailyjournal can track your feelings or daily activities so that you can reflectlater. My journal entries reflect somescriptures and outlook for the day. Yourdoctor or therapist may suggest doing daily or weekly journaling. It really can show patterns of emotions andgood mental health without making it a menial task. I find I am more focused and clear after writingthings down. Challenge yourself to starta notebook and keep it with you.

Children have a way of pulling you out of negativity, andputting a grin on your face for the day. My nieces and nephew are always good at one liner jokes without eventrying.

They bring a lot of joy to my life. Most of my friends havechildren that are always saying funny things, too.

Volunteering can also bring you out of a boringroutine. Find an outlet where you canencourage someone else. Your communityservice or church ministry will provide a practical and meaningful way for youto feel like you are making a difference for someone else.

Psalm 34:18 The Lord is close to the brokenhearted andsaves those who are crushed in spirit.

Psalm 147:3 He heals the brokenhearted and binds uptheir wounds.

Phillipians 4:8,9 Whateveris true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever islovely, whatever is admirable- if anything is excellent or praiseworthy- thinkabout such things. Whatever you havelearned or received or heard from me, or seen in me- put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.