Last week, I shared about Living in Peace. This week, I am dedicating this article to Conquering Confusion.
I don’t know if you feel it, but sometimes I feel like I am living in the funnel of a tornado! The world seems to be in flux, and with all that is going on, it is hard to separate the truth from the falsehoods. What do we do?
Personally, the last weeks have been challenging for me as I navigate through several different personal issues concerning my mobile home park and those who live here. Last week, my aging mother’s health took a turn for the worse. My family is still figuring out how to deal with the extra care she needs. Of course, there are always little things that disrupt our lives, but handling those with the big stuff has made me stumble, affecting my health and sleep patterns.
Stress can do damage to your body. Honestly, I did not realize how much I was holding until I felt the stress settling and affecting my body.
In all honesty, this is not the first time I have dealt with too much stress, but this time, I am dealing with it differently.
Rather than lament, I chose to look at the confusion and asked myself two questions:
- What is this showing or teaching me?
- What can I do to reduce the stress I am feeling?
After much reflection and contemplation, these are the answers that came to me.
#1: Confusion is often the precursor to change. And change is inevitable, whether I like it or not. One of my friends shared with me a Sunday service lesson about the subject taught by her minister. If you look back into history, the religious or spiritual atmosphere seems to change every 500 or so years. From my study of history, I am inclined to embrace that conclusion.
So, I have surmised that this confusion is ushering in a new era, different from the one before it. Of course, I have no way of knowing if this is true or not in the world we live in, but I definitely believe this is what is happening in my personal life.
#2: My stress is typically brought about by trying to do too much and trying to change my circumstances without doing the inner work I need to do—such as watching my health!
I am re-evaluating what is important to me, like my mother and my health, and what I can let go of to calm my life.
Conquering confusion is an ongoing phenomenon I am learning to navigate more effectively.
How about you? How do you conquer confusion?