I remember wanting to be and do a lot of things when I was a kid. I was going to set records as a female band director, write the great American novel, make a living as a hula dancer in Hawaii, and drive a sky blue 442. (That was a car, for the younger generation). The little girl in the picture below had big dreams. NOWHERE on her list was “See how long I can live before stress kills me.” This is not a life goal, and yet, everyone is buying the Stress Management books, listening to the podcasts, and ordering the supplements that promise to help you keep this electric bull from tossing you to an early death. It just seems like a really low bar of life dreams. Why do we just assume the defensive position? Why do we surrender to this minimum expectation to “manage” stress? That’s hardly Excellivating! I’d like to look at other options. There’s got to be a better way. Jesus came so we could have life and have it abundantly. That means more than getting from the negative side of the number line to zero. We’ll talk more about this in the coming weeks.
I’ve got a keynote and workshop on this topic. Let me know if your group or organization would benefit from “Manage Your Joy, Because Managing Stress Isn’t Much Fun.” Isn’t this picture great? I want to give credit to Guillaume Paumier, CC-BY.
Sincerely,
Kim