There is but one major cause of our stress: our obsessive desire to meet our goals! Attached to this is our fear of not meeting such goals, of the feeling of failure and of having our hopes dashed along the way.
Our goals may be composed of big and small ones, starting with achieving our dream job and financial status, of finding the people we’d keep for life, and even of meeting our deadlines, and of keeping up with other people’s expectations about us.
In the end though, how much of these could really be within our power to attain? Which of these are really vital for us to live meaningful lives? And which of these even if not achieved could never destroy what’s truly important within us?
It’s not bad to plan, to prioritize and to schedule the attainment of our goals. What causes our stress is our imbalanced anxiety if such goals couldn’t be attained.
To live a peaceful life with lesser stress, why not live with one major goal that would replace all the other goals in the top position of our priorities in life? Why not make it a goal to accomplish the will of GOD?
Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart. – Psalm 37:4
Only that goal carries with it an assurance, that certainty of God’s promise to help us fulfill it, and by so fulfilling it, we also achieve the best course for our own lives.
Happy are those whose greatest desire is to do what God requires; God will satisfy them fully! -Matthew 5:6,TEV
Check Jocelyn's books:
"Of Waves and Butterflies: Poems on Grief", "Mend My Broken Heart", "Questions to God", "To Love an Invisible God", "Defending My Catholic Faith", and more - click here.
(You may freely quote excerpts from this website as long as due credit is given to author Jocelyn Soriano and the website itakeoffthemask.com)
2 replies on “The Number One Cause of Our Stress!”
How true. As we go through life our attempts to be successful often over-ride or even replace the thought that should be upper most in our minds and hearts. The act of achieving true harmony with God should always be our goal. Being one with Jesus and the will of God relieves us of the stress of trying to achieve that which should be secondary in our minds. God’s plan for us is perfect, we just need to see that and pray for his mercy and guidance.
This is the best goal of all: to accomplish the will of God and to glorify him in all I do, say, and think.
Also, I love Psalm 37:4 “Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart.”
~ Blessings abundant