Personal Mantras
There have been moments in life when I have found myself mired down in an unhealthy thought and/or behavior pattern. Out of negative self-esteem, self doubt or of a shadowy fear of wandering outside my zone of comfort, there have been times I have been a victim of crippling self-sabotage only to feel deeply despondent later.
For myself, journal writing has been incredibly cathartic in breaking myself out of destructive thought patterns. Often, it has been so freeing to identify the ruinous thoughts that have taken my mind captive, and pen them out on paper. And after uncoiling my tightly wound thoughts, my mind feels less cloudy and my path forward seems more obvious and feasible.
Along this same line of thinking, do you have a personal mantra that has helped you persevere and to soldier past your fears, doubts and sabotaging mindset? When your fears have you stuck in neutral, with your mind rammed into overdrive, how do you coach yourself forward?
Prompt: Share with us a moment when your mantra has helped you find the necessary courage to push past your fears and self doubt.
I am already eagerly anticipating your responses, and hope to glean wisdom and courage from your experiences. Thank you for your time and efforts!
Yours,
Lillian Rose Williams
“All I have to be is willing, and God will take care of the rest!”
Many years ago, my husband and I were asked to lead a large work group, and tasked with preparing food for around 750 people. It was very stress inducing, knowing that if the meal was undercooked, burned, or unpalatable, the responsibility would lie with us.
For an entire week beforehand, stress ate away at my brain and nerves until I was completely and thoroughly miserable. My stomach was bound up tight, and my disposition was as sour as a bite into a lemon.
This went on for several months, until, working next to my sister in law, she recounted a time when she herself had been faltering in self doubt. To this day, she doesn’t recall telling me the words that I found to be profoundly life altering: “That all I had to be was willing, and God would take care of the rest.”
Those words clicked in my brain like a missing puzzle piece; helping to reign in my obsessive and grandiose control issues.
I had been relying on the impossible ideology that if I tried hard enough, any future difficulties could be forecasted and circumvented.
There would always be outlying factors outside my control: lettuce would sometimes arrive moldy, a box of apples wasn’t delivered, scheduled workers would inevitably forget to show up. Realistically, it was not remotely possible to be prepared for all the situations that could potentially arise. I could only be as prepared as possible and to bring a willing heart, desiring to perform the best that I was able.
Beyond that, I would have to trust that God would bless our united effort, and, as needed, grant wisdom for when circumstances inevitably would spiral from “my” script.
To this day, many have commented on my lack of stress for hosting large gatherings of people. “It really isn’t a big deal!” I can say with a smile. “All I have to be is willing, and God will take care of the rest!”
~lillian rose williams