Day 16- Here's Your Sign

Lately I've been thinking a lot about signs. Is there such a thing as signs, and if there are, where do they come from? Is it from God? Is it from our own brains? Or is it from some cosmic universe thing? Or is there no such thing as signs but simply coincidence? If you believe the same way as I do there is such a thing as signs. A lot of times they aren't obvious right at the exact moment they are happening, but when you look back you often realize there was something there all along pushing us in a certain direction. This might also be what people mean when they say "I just went with my gut."

For me, during these last few years dealing with anxiety and depression, I have been getting a lot of signs. Most of these are signs that it will get better if I just keep pushing through, and they come in the form of being exactly what I need to hear at just the right moment. I can think of 3 instances where this has happened.

The first was when I went to life group a few weeks ago. It had been a particularly rough week and my anxiety was really high for multiple days in a row. I really wasn't all there, so I felt like I needed to explain why to the group. I had mentioned to one other girl about my issues, but that was it. That night, before we left one of the other guys pulled me aside to give me a copy of a verse. Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God's peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:6, 7)  I now have this piece of paper with this verse taped on my wall where I can see it every day. For me, this is exactly what I needed to hear. The few days prior I was so much in my head, thinking and concentrating on my anxiety and all the physical symptoms my anxiety was creating, I just couldn't get out of it. By reading the verse I realized what I needed to do. I needed to remember everything in my life that was good and that I was thankful for, and then think about what I needed at that exact moment to get out of the anxiety bubble I was in. The next morning when I woke up I said a prayer doing exactly what the verse told me to do, and over the next day or two I found my way out of the bubble.

The next instance where I was given exactly what I needed at the right moment was right before I started going to therapy. I was really nervous about it and was wondering if it was the right thing to do. It was then that I went on my Instagram and a friend of mine posted the daily horoscope for Gemini, which I am. It read You may be thinking that what you need now- given all of the issues you're dealing with- is a magic lamp or a genie in a bottle. You would love to be able to just make a wish and cause all your troubles to disappear. While it won't be quite that easy to clear your path of trouble and start anew with a clean slate, it will be a whole lot easier than you think. And you don't need a genie or magic lamp either- you already have all the magic you need, and it's right in your heart and your mind. It was then that I knew that it was the right thing to do. That it was going to be hard, but that I could do it, that all the power was in me to make the changes I wanted and needed to make.

The final time I got what I needed to hear was last night, and it came from the place I would have never expected it. I was putting on hand lotion before going to bed when I decided to read the tube. It says it has lavender and chamomile in it to relieve stress. The top saying on the back of the bottle reads She approaches life with a quiet sense of calm. Since all of this began, this is what I have been striving for. It is my ultimate goal on how I want to live my life, and I got the phrase from the back of a hand lotion bottle. I had been thinking lately on what my ultimate goal was, what I want my truth and my motto to be, and here it is.

If that's not a sign, I don't know what is?

Day 16- Thing I love to do......Download new music.