Why It's Easy To Remain Calm When The World Seems To Be Falling Apart

A friend wrote to me explaining how she was looking for a change in perspective, which is a good thing when you're full entrenched in frantic southern California. I complimented her on making the effort to change things in order to minimize stress in her life. 

Well...it didn't end there. I thought I was done with the subject.

Thoughts began to bubble up. It resulted in my writing a letter explaining how I seem to appear so calm, rather than feeling as frantic as she does. Enjoy. 

There are a variety of ways that I can look at life. Ultimately, they come down to two categories. I can either react positively or negatively. 

Let's start with the question of whether the event or situation is an internal issue, or an external issue. What do I mean by internal or external? It essentially comes down to a case of whether it is my perception of something happening to me, or whether it is something physically happening to me by outside forces over which I have no control. 

If it is something that I perceive based on what I think another person meant by what they said, then it is my perception. If it is my perception, then there are two ways to react to that perception. I can change the perception, or suffer through it for however long I decide is appropriate. 

If it is an external situation, then I still have a choice on how I react . I can either let it stick in my craw forever, or I can just let it slide off my back like "water off a duck." 

Keeping with the concept that there are always two choices, some people believe that there is a God, others don't. Everyone has the option to chose which they believe.

If God does exist, I have the option to believe in Him, or to dismiss the idea. 

From my perspective, I believe that He exists. I also believe that the Bible is the inspired word of God. It might seem crazy, but what do I have to lose by believing? Nothing that I can tell. 

Through the Bible, one receives a set of rules based on love that have stood the test of time. Whether those have been God's words or not, it ultimately makes no difference to me because they have proven to be effective throughout history. 

If I choose to believe in the validity of God and the rules in the Bible, then I also believe in the ultimate reward of going to heaven to be with God and Jesus for eternity.

If God doesn't exist, then I won't know the difference anyway. The only place it will make any real difference is in my perception of what I believe others might think of me. 

My perception of what others might think of me once again leaves me with two choices. I can either let it drive me to distraction for all of my life, or I can dismiss other people's opinions.

It ultimately comes down to the question of what I can realistically control. And, truthfully, the only thing that I really can control is my perception. My biggest issue really amounts to knowing the difference between my perception of what is happening to me, and what is actually happening to me. And, following that is the choice of how I deal with the options. 

If it's not just my perception, it amounts to me knowing that I can't change the external event, but I can change me and my perceptions of the external events. Wisdom comes in knowing the difference. 

So, let's bring this all together. While the world seems to be collapsing all about us, I can choose to make the changes that I can make. That's either in my perception of events, or my reaction to events. It does me no good to fret about the items over which I have no control.

Thus, after I have made the changes to the things I can control and adding the fact that I believe in God, I turn the things over which I have no control to God. That lifts all the weight of the things I can't control off of my shoulders and onto His.  That brings a lot of peace with it. 

"Yeah, but what if you're wrong?" I hear you saying in my minds eye. My answer, "What difference does it make?" If I am right, it has made for a peaceful life and after life. If I'm wrong, I won't know anything and I live a peaceful life anyway. 

So, I win either way. 

Makes perfect sense to me!