In contrast, breathing is the ultimate “present” activity. You can only breathe in the Present. You cannot expect the past to breathe for you, or the future. So when you want to return to the present, focus on your breathing. It connects you directly to where you are. While the mind can live in the past or future, the body and breathing cannot.
I like to refer to another strategy as, “Don’t open the floodgates.” Think of your thoughts as water in a stream. They are all connected. And as illustrated above, negative thoughts about unrelated subjects like to connect with each other. Your awareness of your thoughts is the dam, or floodgate, preventing those thoughts from taking over your mind and mood. Once you perceive that you have a negative thought, say to yourself quietly but audibly, “Don’t open the floodgates!” When you say this, it reminds your brain of the simple fact that negative thought follows negative thought. The brain then prepares itself for the attack. Then, you must deliberately change what you are thinking about. Don’t stay “on topic.” Think of the happiest, funniest, or most peaceful thing that you can. If the mind is resistant to changing the topic, put on some music, turn on the TV, or go for a walk. Create a diversion. If you cannot distract yourself mentally, distract yourself physically. One way or the other, you have to dam that rushing stream of negativity.
Be mindful of the importance of stopping the floodgates from opening. The enemy loves it when the dam is broken, causing that rushing stream of negative thoughts that ruin your day. Keep telling yourself, “Don’t open the floodgates.” And when the anxiety attack has been repelled, congratulate yourself. These are the small victories that you win each day.
Prayer is also a very effective defense against negative thoughts. These thoughts may have such a hold on us at times that we find it difficult to focus on praying, but one tactic I have used is recording myself reading aloud my favorite Psalm verses (all of which are in this book). I keep this recording on my phone, and simply hit “play” when I find myself encountering anxiety and overthinking. When I hear these soothing verses from the most powerful book of joy and hope ever written, my mind is calmed, and is redirected towards inner peace.
“For thou wilt light my candle;
The Lord my God will
enlighten my darkness.”
(Psalm 18:28, KJV)
Life unfortunately involves periods of darkness that we must go through. Suffering, hardship, struggle, adversity – and simply, pain – are all part of the texture of life. But we are blessed, for there is light that comes to us from God in these periods of darkness.
The speaker says, “Thou wilt light my candle,” reminding us that we all have a “candle” that we carry around with us. That candle is the potential to receive the light and warmth of the Lord. It is our faith, our hope. When we stay in faith, we allow ourselves to experience the Lord’s light: his guidance and his joy. This can come in many forms: a realization of how to end our difficulty, acceptance of a tragedy, or just simple relief and inner peace.
Interestingly, the speaker uses the word “enlighten.” To enlighten means to educate, to bring knowledge or wisdom to someone. So often, our “darkness” periods involve ignorance, not knowing what to do – how to overcome a hardship, accept adversity, even how to forgive. In these periods, we must keep aware that the Lord is there to be our teacher, to enlighten us.
The image of God dispelling darkness through a lit candle is timeless. Candles are part of many church services and stories throughout the world, and in literature and culture are seen as symbols of hope. A popular song from the band REO Speedwagon in the early 1980s contains the line, “You’re the candle in the window, on a long cold winter’s night,” as the speaker addresses his beloved.
Psalm 18 is one of the longer psalms, at 50 verses. It begins by declaring the speaker’s love for God, and then launches into an abundance of inspiring analogies:
The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer;
My God, my strength, in whom I will trust;
My buckler [shield], and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower.
(Psalm 18:2, KJV)
What an extensive list! The words all signify protection and defense. The military nature of the words implies that we are under some form of attack – which we often are. Notice how the images, though of the same theme, are diverse: a rock, a fortress, a shield, and then a horn or trumpet – something designed to declare, through sound, that God is there to protect us. Finally, there is the image of the “high tower,” showing God’s magnitude, his greatness, and his ability to see all, like an expert field commander.
These images give us confidence. On this battlefield of life, we serve under a brilliant military strategist who does not see us as expendable but who wants to keep us protected. Meanwhile, he is helping us to advance, to move forward. In verse 29 the speaker says, “For by thee I have run through a troop; And by my God have I leaped over a wall” (Psalm 18:29, KJV). The imagery is palpable: it is God who gets us past those lines of enemies. So many times in life, we see adversity coming towards us, but it often passes us by or God carries us right through it. Likewise, there are so many walls that we see in our lives: obstacles in our career, relationships, or health, or even mental walls that we have constructed ourselves. Our faith in God, and in his help as our leader, enables us to leap over these. By the end of the psalm, the speaker is saying, “I have pursued mine enemies, and overtaken them” (Psalm 18:37, KJV), and “Thou hast subdued under me those that rose up against me” (Psalm 18:39, KJV). In addition to getting us past our hardships, God will also raise us above them.
Notice, though, that we still have to stand up on this battlefield – we can’t just lie down and expect God to do all the fighting. He can light our candle, and be our shield, but we have to be willing to advance, ready to face a “troop,” ready to leap over walls. Sometimes, this involves physical action on our part, everything from getting out of bed in the morning, to making a dreaded phone call, knocking on that intimidating office door, sending that email, filling out that application. Always, it involves being positive, maintaining our serenity, and damming thoughts of defeat.
When we’ve done all the actions we can do, we are still required to stay in faith. Faith is that potential that we always have with us. It is our candle. All we have to do is reach out to God so he can light it.
“My mouth shall speak of wisdom;
And the meditation of my heart
shall be of understanding.”
(Psalm 49:3, KJV)
Wisdom is praised throughout the Bible. It is considered one of the most worthy traits that we can have, along with kindness, generosity, and humility. To be wise increases our inner peace. But what exactly is wisdom, and how do we get it?
Wisdom is a multi-dimensional quality: it is the combination of knowledge, good judgment, empathy, and the depth of experience. It differs from knowledge, which is really just a one-dimensional asset. Put simply, knowledge is superficial, but wisdom is deep.
At present, in 2020, we live in an age of knowledge, but not of wisdom. The data-driven nature of our age is trying to convince us that knowledge – that is, just having sheer facts and statistics – is wisdom. This error leads to people thinking that they “know” someone purely because of his Google Search history and buying preferences. With anxiety levels at their highest in history, and happiness levels dropping significantly over the past 25 years, knowledge on its own is clearly not making us happier!