Happy Spring!
It’s hard to believe we’re into APRIL already, but I am so glad that we are! I don’t know about you, but, as much as I love the first snowfall of winter, I start to not love the fifth snowfall, especially when it’s in March! I’m excited for spring and the new growth that comes at this time every year!
Back in January, I introduced the core values of my practice (which you can read about here) vitality, wholeness, and freedom. I’ve spent the past couple of months sharing content centered around the idea of vitality, or the activity, energy, and power of being alive. I shared some out-of-the-box ideas for self-care,unpacked the diagnosis of Seasonal Affective Disorder , and offered suggestions on how to stay informed with current events in a manner that won’t take a toll on your mental health. My goal was to provide hope that it IS possible to live an active, energetic life even when we struggle with difficult emotions, and I shared the reasons why we need other people in our lives, as well as a different perspective on self-love.
For the next couple of months, I’d like to talk about another core value of Abundant Life: wholeness. When you hear the word “wholeness,” what comes to your mind? An image of a whole person comes to my mind; not only the physical outline of a human being, but a person’s mind, soul, and emotions, which can’t be illustrated. I also think of the idea of growing into wholeness, in that, instead of focusing on one aspect of health and well-being, we focus on multiple aspects, physical, emotional, mental, spiritual, relational, etc., and how they impact each other. I also think of the idea of “progress, not perfection” and acceptance of imperfections and difficult emotions – all of the things that make up who we are. The dictionary defines wholeness as “the state of forming a complete and harmonious whole; unity.”
Why is this concept of wholeness important to me? The Bible tells us that we are made in God’s image, that we are made after His very likeness. I believe we reflect this likeness in a variety of ways. He is the Creator of all things, and He’s given us the ability to create as well, whether it’s a piece of art, a skyscraper, or a spreadsheet. We see that He has emotions like ours throughout the Old Testament, when the Israelites tried His patience with their disobedience, as well as through the person of Jesus (“Jesus wept,” to name perhaps the most famous example). Jesus was relational in that He had a mother, father, siblings, and several friends (as well as several people who did not like or accept Him). When God created us, He endowed us with many of the characteristics that He Himself has. For this reason, I believe it’s important for us to acknowledge and accept these characteristics not only to live in accordance with who God has made us to be, but also to understand a more intimate picture of who He is and how much He loves us.
As Christians, I think it can be easy to “spiritualize” our emotions. As in, “oh, I just won’t worry about that. God tells me not to worry, so I won’t.” While God certainly tells us to cast our cares on Him and to not worry about tomorrow, ignoring our more difficult emotions is not only impossible (trust me, they come to the surface at some point in some way, shape, or form), it’s denying an aspect—our emotions—that God created, gave to us for a reason, and that He Himself has. Now, I’m not saying that we shouldn’t trust God with our cares, concerns, fears, etc. What I am saying is that we must first acknowledge that those emotions are there so that we can go to Him and place our trust in Him. (Have you ever had a fear or care or concern and you prayed about it, but still felt worried and/or doubted that God would show up? And then God answered that prayer beyond what you could imagine and you wondered why you ever doubted Him? Yeah, me neither ;)…I kid, of course I’ve experienced this!).
So, what kind of content can you expect regarding this theme of wholeness? Later this month, I’ll be addressing the idea of self-reflection, as well as suggestions for accepting difficult emotions, rather than suppressing them or becoming consumed by them. I’ll also be exploring the topics of emotional intelligence, physical ways in which anxiety can manifest itself, and suggestions for forming friendships outside of your marriage or dating relationship.
Again, thank you for reading, for following along on social media, and joining me in the journey to living an abundant life! I’m so thankful for the opportunities God has provided, including the amazing clients and followers He’s put in my path!
