The Lord is with me; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?
Psalm 118:6
When you are afraid, your thoughts will determine how anxious you become and how long you take to calm down. Your thoughts will either fuel negative emotions like fear and anger or they will soothe you. As, Horace, the early philosopher said, “Anger and fear are momentary madness, so control your passion or it will control you.”
One way you can reduce your emotional response is to recognize the power of your thoughts behind these feelings. In doing so you can learn to replace your distressful thoughts with self-soothing ones. For example, a thought such as, “He will never stop texting me harassing messages. I think he is setting me up to take me back to court” increases your emotional distress. A replacement thought might be “My coparent is certainly determined to speak with me about something. I will contact him after work.” Or you may think to yourself, “He gets really anxious sometimes but does not know how to handle the stress. It will pass.” “I don’t benefit from these anxious thoughts. I will write out my fear and place it in my prayer box for now because I cannot do anything about it.” Ultimately the most self-soothing thought is to remember Psalm 118:6; the Lord is with me. God will never leave me.”
Dear Lord,
Remind me that You, Lord, are always with me. I want to defuse the conflict in a manner that would please You. Help me learn to soothe myself when I am under stress. I don’t want to numb my feelings nor let my anger seep out onto others. Help me identify my fear and anger, learn from them, and not be overpowered or consumed by them. Remind me to come to You for help so I can remain calm and able to think rather than react. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen