What do you do when everything is getting on top of you?

You know when you find yourself getting ridiculously angry about something tiny or just have no energy to do anything anymore.

In extreme cases it starts to effect our health and we become more susceptible to infections, have unexplained symptoms or start to experience more serious illness.

It goes by lots of different names but the one that we use a lot is ‘stress’.

Truth is it takes a lot of wisdom and self-knowledge to see when it is starting to happen.

Modern science tells us that it is possible to change the shaping of our brains to cope better with stress before it becomes a problem but it is not quick and it not without sustained effort.

To stress proof our brains we need to learn to still our minds and rest them in a completely secure place. We need to do it regularly over a period of time to have an effect.

Christians have been practicing this, building on even older wisdom, for 2000 years.

Jesus, the model for Christians, did this daily. When things were most stressful he spent most time in prayer – this place in his head where he made connection with God. This God he felt so safe with that he used the word, ‘abba’ – father.

This is wisdom that has borne the test of time. We need to do it before we feel things are getting on top of us. Is this a good resolution for the New Year?

Rev Beverley Lock, St Mary’s Church, Ambleside