One Tip Guaranteed to Reduce Your Stress, Make You a Kinder Person, and Help the World Look a Little Brighter!

It’s Time to Take a Break from something.  Imagine you walk into a room full of 5 or so of your closest family members and friends.  They look super serious and a little nervous.  There’s one seat open and you know it’s meant for you.  It’s an intervention.  The problem is you didn’t even know you had a problem. 

 

Here is how the conversation goes….

The apparent leader of the group begins, “You know we love you and we should have said this a long time ago, but we didn’t want to cause any stress in our relationship with you.  We really want the best for you, don’t we?  (heads around the room nervously nod) This may be hard to hear, but we’ve got to be honest with each other.  

You’ve got a problem… an addiction and the sooner we face up to it, the sooner we can get the old you back.  (someone wipes a tear from their eye as they think about the last few years.) 

It’s made you anxious, even paranoid.  You used to be such a giving person.  You always said you loved everybody, and most of the time, acted like it. You had faith that things would work out no matter what. 

Now you seem bitter, angry, jaded.  The people that used to look up to you have been hurt.  The people that love you have been pushed aside.  We know there is a better you in there and we’re desperate for that version of you to come back.  So this is what we came here to say…”

(Finally he calls you by name…)

“American Christian, you are addicted to Information…especially News.   There, I said it.  At first you said it was just that you ‘wanted to be an informed citizen.  How could you make the world a better place if you didn’t know what was going on?  How could you vote for the right person if you didn’t understand the issues?’  But it’s changed you… for the worse.  We believe it’s not too late to change again. This time for the better.  It’s not too late to get the old full-of-hope you back.  It’s not too late to have peace again.  Over time the relationships that have been broken by your dependence on a constant source of information online and tv can be mended.”

 

You nod your head and ask, “So what is it exactly that you want me to do?”

 

Okay, enough with the melodrama.  Here is what I (Jimmy) am asking you (One Church Family) to consider.  Return to the age-old Christian tradition of fasting.  (Fasting is when you for a set amount of time you voluntarily choose not to consume something, usually food, so you can focus on prayer and listening to God.)  This time, instead of fasting from food, I’m going to ask us to fast from something else. 

 

Pick a number of days that is right for you.  Maybe it’s 1 or 2 or 10 and commit to not watch, listen to, or read any news.  This includes sports news, political news, celebrity gossip… all of it.  

During this time, every time you feel the urge to consume information; whisper a prayer to God asking him to grow you, give you wisdom, give you courage, and bless our land. 

 

 

I can’t guarantee you will lose the five pounds you promised yourself for the new year, but I can promise you some better perspective and peace in your life.