I am beginning to realize that the key to ridding myself of any feelings stress and anxiety is to simply learn to be joyful and appreciative of what I have and where I am at in my life currently. Every time I start getting anxious about the van breaking down on me at any minute and us not having money to fix it, I stop and remember that the van itself was a gift! It was an instrument of God's faithful provision. I then proceed to pat the dashboard of my beloved new/old van and bless it and the one who gave it to me. Thank you Lord for my van that keeps on trucking, despite needing over $800 of work. I am grateful for however long it lasts, because it is a miracle that I have something to drive in the first place. I am finding that this choice to stop my negative thoughts, from the small things to the big, and replace them with positive and grateful thoughts, the lower my stress levels go down and the higher my contentment with myself, my jobs, my loved ones..... my life!

I realize that the difficult circumstances I have gone through the past few years are all being used to form me into who I am meant to be and will enable me to be a more effective, real, down to earth, understanding person in the long run. I wouldn't trade them for anything when looking at it from that perspective!