Stressed?

Sometimes our clients speak of stress as if it were an entity separate from themselves, a living breathing demon of sorts that might ambush them at any time. And our job, as counselors, is to disabuse them of the idea that stress emanates from anywhere but within themselves.

Common terms we hear around the program are "he stresses me out." Or "my job stresses me out." The variations go on and on.

It's a powerful revelation when we first realize we're the authors of our own stress. So-called stress is my reaction to what goes on around me, or perhaps in my magnifying mind.

It's difficult to explain to a newly recovering addict how his thinking is what keeps him stressed. But once he grasps this realization, life goes much smoother. It's gratifying to see an addict in recovery finally take responsibility for their stress..

We shake off the shackles of stress as we accept life on life's terms. When we encounter difficulty we accept that in God's world everything's exactly as it's supposed to be. 

We no longer have to fathom the beautiful - and sometimes frightening - mysteries of life. We simply accept that what's going on right now is part of God's plan.