Freedom From Discouragement
My body is very sensitive. Any kind of change in food or routine can make a huge difference in how my day…or night goes for me.
Mondays are usually good days for me. I have had two days that I don’t have to go to work and I generally feel pretty rested. This past Monday was one of those blessed days. I felt good most of day.
When I got home, after work, my lower back was hurting so much that I didn’t want to try the unobtainable feat of going to sleep. I stayed up as long as I could.
Since I know my body so well, I was correct in my assumption that falling asleep was going to be difficult. I tried and tried for hours, but I was in too much pain and it seemed to spread like wildfire throughout my body. It actually felt like parts of my body were on fire!
My feet were hurting and burning. I had sharp, shooting pain coming from my toes. My feet were hurting so much it hurt for them to touch the bed. It hurt for them to touch each other.
My calf muscles were burning and my knees were aching. My bladder was hurting. In fact my entire pelvic area felt like I had a heavy belt around it putting pressure on it. I felt a deep ache in most of my muscles, especially my shoulders.
The noise from the Dish receiver, in my closed armoire, was driving me bananas! I have had that receiver in my bedroom for years and it has never bothered me before, but that night was different!! I put my pillow over my head and began to cry.
I felt IT jump on my back and now I was wallowing in IT. DISCOURAGEMENT had taken over every once of my being.
I didn’t want IT to win. I wanted to fight back! But at this point, I had little energy and little strength. I decided to soak in a hot tub with Epsom salt. I could clearly still feel IT on my back, but I wasn’t wallowing in IT so much now…starting to feel SOME mental relief.
Armed with a pain pill and three heating pads I headed to bed. I was finally able to drift off to sleep and attain Freedom from Discouragement.
I think what caused some of my pain was wearing a pair of shoes that seemed comfortable at the time, but apparently are not the best fit for me…literally! The wrong shoes and a Fibromyalgia flare are the recipe for pain and Discouragement. However… I want to focus on beating Discouragement…the Freedom from Discouragement part.
How Do We Get Freedom From Discouragement?
I think Discouragement often happens when we are exhausted. When we are mentally or physically exhausted we are a prime candidate for the devil to creep into your thoughts. When we are exhausted things can seem more bleak than they really are.
Sometimes rest is the best solution. Stop, rest and refresh!
Fight back! If what you are doing is causing you Discouragement, try a new approach. Shake things up a little bit. Pray about it and get on the same page as God. Ask the Holy Spirit to guide you and help you come up with a new plan.
It is always a good idea to remember that God will help you. All you have to do is ask Him. There is incredible motivating power in faith!
Look for courage deep inside yourself. Sometimes courage is not shown by loud words or actions. Instead, our courage may be to silently tell ourselves to keep fighting and keep going when the day has been extremely hard. Tell yourself “I will continue to fight tomorrow and I will hope for a better day.”
Always remember that no negative feeling lasts forever. Hang in there my friends!
