Watching the stock market go up and down on a daily basis is depressing. Talk about fear-producing anxiety! I remember now why I 'm not a day trader, nor do I ever want to be one. I do, however, want great returns on my investments (remember a few years ago what those were like?). Thinking about this reminded me of my journey some 21 years ago when I first walked through the door of a professional counselor's office. I remember thinking, "I'll give this one session a try and then I'm out". Thankfully, I had the willingness to listen to the people God had placed in my life and I stayed with the process until I had learned enough to change my behavior and more importantly, my thinking and belief system. All along the way I was forced to identify and challenge false beliefs and destructive thinking patterns ingrained from a lifetime of practice and saturation. One such belief was about counseling itself. I remember constantly thinking "I can't afford this-it's too expensive". Somewhere along the way the truth came to me and I used it to counter this thought pattern. It went something like this, "there is nothing in this world that I can spend my money on that will pay bigger dividends than this".
I often see people that could benefit greatly from professional counseling but refuse to do so because they too think it costs too much. The truth is, there isn't a greater use of your money (or time) than investing in yourself. Think about this for a moment: a healthier functional you is a better friend, lover, spouse, worker, and so on. When you are healthy you begin to see the world differently and the people in it. I remember a scene from the movie Jerry McGuire when his mentor pointed to his heart and said "if the inside isn't right, the outside won't ever be right". Truer words were never spoken.
"Anxiety in the heart of man causes depression, but a good word makes it glad" Prov 12:25
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