Happy Monday Friends!

I trust that all of you are doing well!

I wanted to talk to you today about something that is a very sensitive topic for me.

The “A” word

Anxiety

You may say why do you want to talk about that? I’m so glad that you asked!

I struggled so hard with writing this and wondered why God was leading me this way. He plainly let me know that someone needs to hear your testimony, they may never admit to you what’s going on but someone needs to know and they need to know how that can win the battle. So hear I am as vulnerable as I can be, but writing to you with boldness and confidence knowing that God has a purpose and plan for you and to let you know you’re not in this alone. God sees, He knows, He cares and He’s come to heal. What an awesome thing to know! Oh how He loves you and me.

Anxiety is something that I never thought I would have to deal with in my life. I consider myself a person that’s pretty much in control of their emotions. However, there are times that situations come into your life that you have absolutely no control over, things you never in a million years saw coming. If you are a person (such as myself ) that’s used to being in control, when certain situations happen, instead of trusting and depending on God we sometimes tend to panic. At least that’s what I did in my brain. Now I am not a psychologist yet, but sometimes experience can teach you things that books can’t . No disrespect to the practicing professionals.

Anxiety causes you to feel as though everything in your world is falling and it’s just  happening in your world. No one else can see or feel what you feel. To be perfectly honest, the majority of these things aren’t real, but to the person experiencing them they are. The emotions are real, the thoughts, oh so real and it’s just a matter of time before these horrible things take place. It takes a very loving and understanding person to live with someone who battles this.

I wanted to shed some light on this because sometimes in the Christian community and especially in the African-American community, mental illness is seen as something that the devil brings on or the person is crazy. Let me set you free today, if this sickness is something that you battle with, YOU ARE NOT CRAZY. It just means your brain processes things a little differently and you’ve had to deal with life and you just need a little help in how to cope with what’s going on with you! I can see someone who is battling this disease and other mental illnesses and instead of getting the help they need, they’ll  “deal” with it themselves or because of shame and lack of knowledge they don’t get the help they need and live a defeated life, suffering in their mind in silence.

Anxiety can manifest itself in different ways. For me I was very short with people, I couldn’t concentrate on normal day-to-day things. I am a list maker and I plan all the time. I knew something was wrong when it was a struggle for me to collect my thoughts and sit down just to make a grocery list. This was totally out of the norm for me. The way my body is set up… I just knew something wasn’t right. I begin to talk with my doctor and she explained to me that I was having anxiety. If you could’ve seen the look I gave her! I thought to myself I’m to in control for that, I have a relationship with Jesus, I can’t be battling with anxiety.

But I was…and there it was, out in the open and in my face. What was I going to do?

Could I have chosen to ignore it as so many people do? Of course but who would that be helping? Could I have chosen to say Oh Jesus will fix it without me having to put in work and leave it at that? Yep I could’ve been naïve in my thinking and thought that, but who would that be helping? So I chose to believe that God could heal me and I had faith to believe that, BUT I had to do my part and work my faith.

Yes, there is a part you must play in your own healing! In the book of James Chapter 2:14-17, Paul states that “Do you think that you’ll get anywhere in this walk with Christ if you learn all he right words and never do anything? Does merely talking about faith indicate that a person really has it? He then says “Isn’t it obvious that God-talk without God-acts is outrageous nonsense”? That’s probably a hard pill to swallow, but it is so true. Faith without works is dead. We can believe God for certain things and there is nothing wrong with that, but believing is only half the battle. You have to put some action to what you believe. I know people who suffer from mental illness, but because they are so “spiritual: they don’t get the help they need and unfortunately that’s living a defeated life.

So how do you win the battle, how can I overcome this, Is there any help for me Nicole? The answer is YES there is help AND hope!! The fact that you want help and you acknowledge there is a problem is the first step and I’m very proud of you! You will beat this, in fact you are well on your way. Here are a few simple steps to help you to conquer anxiety, walk in healing and live the victorious life God wants you to!

– Saturate your mind in The Word of God

This has been my biggest most wonderful life-giving source. There are tons of scriptures in the bible that talk about anxiety and worry. If Jesus didn’t think we would be faced with it, it wouldn’t be scriptures in the The Bible to help us. The bible is a list of instructions on things to do when life happens. It’s an instruction manual on how to live not only victoriously, but abundantly. The Word of God is ALIVE, REAL & COMFORTING. It brings peace to the anxious and worried mind. It’s God-loving way of letting us know that He has us in the palm of His hand and He’s here to help us. I love reading the Word, I discover something new every time I open it. Do I read it like I should? Nope, Sometimes I allow things to get in the way and it honestly just slips by me. So I do my best to make this a priority, Just like the body needs water and food to live. So the soul needs the Word of God to survive. I encourage you to try this. Start out with 5 minutes in the morning. you will be pleasantly surprised! That 5 minutes will turn into 10, that 10 into 15 and so forth, you’ll want to spend more and more time with that source that is able to not only bring calm and peace to your mind, but is able to give you such life, like you have never experienced before.

– PRAY

I know that may sound like a cliché, but I promise you it’s not. There is a calm and a peace that comes over us when we pray. Philippians 4 says : Don’t fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your .  Even though God already knows what’s going on with us, He still wants to hear from us. I used to say “well if God already knows, why do I need to tell Him? It’s just like a parent and a child. The parent knows the child actually better than the child knows themselves, but they can t help the child until the child tells the parent what the problem is . Then and only then is the parent able to do something about it.. God is the same way with us. He wants us to talk with Him because He wants to not only fix what’s wrong, but He wants to trade with us, anxiety and worry for His peace.

– Get Your Thought Life In Check & Watch What You Say!

By this I mean, you have to train your mind what to think. With anxiety, your mind kind of tends to focus on the worst case scenario. What you have to do is train your mind to think on things that are positive, true, honest, compelling, the best, not the worst, the beautiful not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse, at least that’s how Philippians 4 puts it! When these feeling of anxiety and worry come up, you must train your mind to think positively. Be careful with your thoughts because they become your actions. We want to think positively so that we can act and live a positive life. We also want to speak positively as well, because your quality of life is measured by the words you speak. You have the power to speak whatever you want to see happen in your life! Good or bad. Why not speak life right? You’ll be surprised at the successes that you’ll have in life and how good you’ll feel. Now this doesn’t mean you won’t ever have any trouble in life, quite the contrary. What I’m learning is life is 10 percent of what happens to you, but it’s 90 percent of how you react to it. What you’re thinking, what you’re saying is the key to how you’ll be living. You decide!

– Take Care of Yourself 

Now you may say you have done all these things and you’ve still had to be on medication. That’s ok, there is healing in medication too. Seriously. Don’t you EVER let anyone make you feel bad because you’ve had to temporarily have a little help. It’s just a season and seasons change. Trust me Friend, they really do. 

I’ve chosen to take a more natural approach by using essential oils, working out, clean eating & natural juicing. Just because this is my preference. These things make me feel so much better than I ever have. 

Essential Oils

There are certain types of essential oils that work very well for anxiety. My main go to oils are Lavender and Vetiver. Lavender of course has tons of uses such as: 

1. Anxiety 

2. Migraines 

3. Cuts, bruises & burns 

There are tons of other uses but I’ll be writing a post about that this week, so stay tuned! 

 Vetiver oil also known as ” Liquid Xanax ” is so powerful! Of course I was skeptical about the oil. So because I’m the daring person I am, I just had to give it a whirl. Let me tell you, it not only calmed me down, but IT PUT ME STRAIGHT TO SLEEP!! I couldn’t believe the next morning when I woke up! If you struggle with falling or staying asleep, rub some of this oil on the bottoms of your feet, then call me in the morning ha! Seriously it’s wonderful and the best part is it’s all natural  

Exercise 

Doctors will tell you that 45 minutes to an hour of physical activity at least 3-4 times a week not only works wonders for your physical body, but for your mental state. When you’re exercising, your body releases this chemical called endorphins also know as ” The Feel Good Chemical “. Exercise can be anything that causes you to work up a sweat. Whether it’s a brisk walk, swimming, running, sex with your hubby ( yes that’s exercise too, but we’ll talk about that later ) etc. Whatever causes you to work up a sweat, do that! You’ll feel better I promise! 

So there you have it! You can and will beat this thing called anxiety! Take these few tips and I promise you, you’ll feel so much better. You’ll began to see things as they really are and not what your situations or circumstances may make you think they are, You are a champion and you’re super victorious! All you have to do now is believe it and walk in it! I believe in you friend! 

Until next time, 

Much Love To You, 

Nicole