How did you handle the critical times in your
life? What did you do?
It was very hard for me, of course (and still
is sometimes)...and if the major crisis hit me before my fifth high-school year
I think I would've suffered more...it's just that after Sec 5 I finally took my
Christian faith seriously, and I believe God is faithful.
When you have a powerful PERSON to hold on
to, it makes a world of difference...the more common ‘stress-release’ practices
today (e.g. sports, books, booze, m-media, and what-nots) only deal with the
'external'/sensual problem - there's still the problem of the heart/spirit.
I would think that whoever created us would
know best how to ‘trouble-shoot’ our difficulties... like whoever’s the creator
of a particular application ought to be the best person to handle the ‘bugs’ (smile).
And so, often I just needed to pray and pray
(and pray!) and ask that I be given the strength to handle my emotions, not end
up doing all sorts of things merely to 'drown' my sorrows away, or contrive
artificial ‘good feelings’ about myself...
This strength can come in the form of:
a)
Hope for the future - that even though Girl A whom I love doesn’t love
me back, God will take care of my heart regardless, and I don't need to live in
the past. And SURELY there will be
someone who DOES love me later on...
b)
Meaning in the present - that even right now, in the midst of my pain, I
can continue serving people, caring for others (who hurt MORE THAN ME), doing
the 'work of God', etc.
c)
Joy always - that no matter what happens here, I know there is Someone
who always loves me...this world is not an ILLUSION...the 'biggest' and 'best'
thing in the world is, again, a PERSON...(who also broke into history to show
us what He's made of, *smile*)
And slowly...slowly...when these ideas 'grow'
inside me, I will BEGIN TO CHANGE...gradually, I will develop more resistance
to depression, more 'energy' to see other people's needs...more 'life' to carry
on, etc.
Don’t know many simpler ways to explain
it...I've been through so many depressions before I took God seriously (I even
cried in front of 200 people one Christmas Eve because I was so 'broken'!)...so
now I'm like one beggar telling another where to find bread... (smile).
Yours,
AL