Exploring Advent: Joy & Peace

We are continuing on in our exploring Advent series discussing joy and peace and how they relate to our health. Let's start with joy.

Joy:

How often do you do things that genuinely bring you joy? If you were to make a list, how long would it be of things you ACTUALLY do each week?

I'm guessing yours, not unlike mine, seems to get shorter with each year.

But like we talked about last week with the monotony of life, we need to learn to sprinkle in the things that bring us joy into our lives, no matter how small they may be.

It starts by making a list of the things that truly bring you joy and don't feel like an obligation or a chore. Next, figure out a way to fit them into your schedule. This is not a time for the "I'm too busy" excuse; your health will literally suffer without these moments of joy.

Lastly, I want you to try and find these moments of joy that DO NOT involve food. Too often we rely on food alone to bring us pleasure and joy, but in all honestly, that is the wrong place to look. Trust me - I've tried.

Instead, look around you to discover the other non-food related moments, things, and activities that bring you joy, and make. them. happen!

Peace:

We can really only achieve peace in my opinion when we ask God to bring us that peace. Whenever we are struggling and have anxiety running rampant in our minds, a simple "God, I need help and peace" can literally change that moment.

But we have to acknowledge that we need help and that we know where that peace comes from. This peace is not something we can necessarily create ourselves; we can try, but true and lasting peace comes from God.

Does this sense of peace take away our troubles and anxiety? Not necessarily, as we will still encounter things that stop us in our tracks and prove to be a struggle. But asking for help and peace allows us to combat these anxieties with the greatest power on our side: God. And nothing is greater than that.

I hope you've enjoyed this mini-Advent series, and I pray that you and your families have a Merry Christmas later this week. God bless!

xoxo Olivia