Anxiety = Angst, Disquietude, Distress, Fretfulness, Mistrust, Nervousness, Unease, Worriment

Quote of the Day:

"We must remain quiet. If we leave nature alone, she recovers gently from the disorder into which she has fallen. It is our anxiety, our impatience, which spoils all; and nearly all men die of their remedies, not of their diseases."

-Beralde in The Imaginary Invalid by Jean-Baptist Poquelin (Better Known As: Moliere)


So I thought I'd shake things up a bit and start with a quote today. Last night I went to see my school's production of The Imaginary Invalid. It was absolutely brilliant. Every single cast member was placed in the perfect role and performed to the best of their abilities. Every character was equally over-the-top, and it was so much fun to watch them all just have the time of their lives.

The basic storyline is that this man is a hypochondriac, so he decides to marry his daughter off to a physician so he can receive free treatments. Obviously, the daughter is incredibly unhappy about this, especially since she has fallen in love with someone else and was waiting for his proposal, not to mention the fact that her father isn't even legitimately sick! Well at one point, the protagonist's brother comes by to talk him into listening to his daughter's appeals and makes the above statement [which, by the way, was on the cover of the program. I didn't memorize it on the spot]. But it really resonates with me, so I wanted to share it with you.

Recently, it has been brought to my attention by my church's pastor that anxiety is a choice.

Just think about it. We cannot control what happens around us, but we can choose how we react to it.

Anxiety is a choice.

Philippians 4:6-7 says this: "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."

Lately, I haven't even been reading my Bible, except for homework for my Bible class, because I've just been allowing this to sink in and I've been applying it to my life. Whenever I begin to worry about anything, I've been trying to tell God about it and just trusting Him with it all because He is in control.

I guess we could call this entry "I'm Finding My Inner-Pocahontas, Part 2."


Alternate Quote of the Day:

"I guess I could be pretty pissed off about what happened to me... but it's hard to stay mad, when there's so much beauty in the world. Sometimes I feel like I'm seeing it all at once, and it's too much, my heart fills up like a balloon that's about to burst... And then I remember to relax, and stop trying to hold on to it, and then it flows through me like rain and I can't feel anything but gratitude for every single moment of my stupid little life."

-Lester Burnham, American Beauty

Sunflower Oil

I just ate a bag of Panera Bread Potato Chips. According to the bag, they are "honestly delicious." That's such a relief because I'm sick and tired of all these bags of potato chips that are deceptively delicious. I mean, they are delicious at the start, but halfway through, they suddenly become disgusting, and I just want to spit them all out. Not only are they physically dissatisfying, but they also leave me emotionally angry and resentful as I come to realize that they manipulated me into believing certain things about them are true, when in fact, they are false. This anger and bitterness then slowly festers beneath the surface of my skin and tortures my psyche, manifesting itself into my actions, attitudes, and words for the rest of the day.

So thank you, Panera Bread, for your honesty.




Quote of the Day:
Sam: I haven't even lied in like two days.
Andrew: Is that true?
Sam: No.

-Garden State

I'm finding my Inner-Pocahontes

Many people (well Christians, as least) debate whether we as humans have free will or if everything in our lives is predestined. After listening to many different discussions I believe that the answer lies somewhere in between - that certain things in our lives are predetermined by God, but we do also have the opportunity to choose some things, to a certain extent. I know that's really vague and non-specific, but basically I've decided that I will never fully understand it, so that's the idea I hold onto without too much stress because I don't think we're really called to think about these things ad nauseum and neglect to follow Christ's teachings.

So you may be wondering, what exactly is your point in writing this blog then, Angela? Well, I will tell you. Yesterday I had a new, interesting revelation about this very subject.


*What if the resolution to the free will/predestination debate is that life is like a 2 person kayak?


Just play along with me for a second: What if we are in the front of the kayak, and God is in the back. Thus, He steers the boat and we help move it along. [See the metaphor? Boat = Life, Water = Life's Journey, 2 Person Kayak = Our Relationship With God...you trackin' w/ me?] OK so, God basically has an idea of where He wants to go and we have a front row seat, but we can always communicate with Him and ask Him about the destination or ask Him to change the direction of the kayak. And we have full reign to tell Him when we're enjoying ourselves and when we feel tired and just want to rest a few minutes and enjoy the scenery. We can always turn around and say, Hey God, You are aware that there are 2 huge yachts and a speed boat closing in on us, right?? Are we gonna do something about this? K thanks.

I like this idea. I mean, I love the idea that when the water gets super choppy and difficult to navigate through because I'm already going against the current, God is right behind me the whole time to keep steering the boat and tell me it's going to be OK. We're going to make it through this journey together. But on the other hand, I'm personally not super crazy about the fact that I honestly cannot steer this kayak on my own. Well, at least not from the front. Which means I would literally have to take God out in order to take the back seat to steer this thing on my own. But that takes too much effort, so I guess I'll learn to deal with someone else steering.

Just something to think about.


Quote(s) of the Day:
"Does this thing come with a motor?"
-Meghan Frey


"You're right. You're absolutely right. You're just floating along on the HMS Right and we're all floating around in a sea of wrong."
-Dane Cook