{"id":62737,"date":"2022-03-17T14:02:00","date_gmt":"2022-03-17T18:02:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=62737"},"modified":"2022-03-25T12:08:54","modified_gmt":"2022-03-25T16:08:54","slug":"spiritual-anxiety-relief","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/spiritual-anxiety-relief\/","title":{"rendered":"Spiritual Anxiety Relief: What We Can Learn From Birds"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>How should a believer deal with anxiety? What do birds teach us about spiritual anxiety relief?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Christian author Joyce Meyer argues that, if our minds are full of anxiety and worry, it\u2019s a sign we\u2019re under attack from the devil, who uses anxiety and worry to torment us and consume our thoughts with negativity. According to Meyer, worry and anxiety are unproductive emotions that rob us of the present moment, which is a gift from God. She says that birds offer a practical lesson for us all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Keep reading for Meyer&#8217;s perspectives on anxiety.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-spiritual-anxiety-relief\">Spiritual Anxiety Relief<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>To find spiritual anxiety relief, we must first understand <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/where-does-anxiety-come-from\/\">where anxiety comes from<\/a> and what it&#8217;s really about. Meyer explains that worry and anxiety may begin with seeds planted by the devil, but they are habit-forming. People can get so accustomed to worrying that their minds are constantly looking for something to worry about. Of course, if we&#8217;re looking for something to worry about, we\u2019ll certainly find it, even if it means worrying about someone else\u2019s problems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table><tbody><tr><td><strong>Can Worry Sometimes Help Us?<\/strong><br><br>Meyer\u2019s characterization of worry as a \u201cuseless\u201d emotion may be too narrow. Dan Harris provides a different view of the utility of worrying in his book <a href=\"https:\/\/shortform.com\/app\/book\/10-happier\/1-page-summary\"><em>10% Happier<\/em>.<\/a> He proposes that <a href=\"https:\/\/shortform.com\/app\/book\/10-happier\/1-page-summary\">worry can be productive if it alerts us to something we need to address or prepare for<\/a>. However, like Meyer, Harris cautions that if worrying causes us to ruminate about the same thought over and over, it becomes unhelpful and a waste of energy.&nbsp;<br><br>Similarly to Meyer, Harris suggests policing our thoughts to avoid wasting the present moment worrying. When we catch ourselves worrying, he advises asking ourselves whether the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/mental-energy\/\">mental energy<\/a> we&#8217;re spending is helpful\u2014is it moving us closer to our goal? If it&#8217;s not, it&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/when-its-time-to-move-on\/\">time to move on<\/a>.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Meyer explains that worry can sometimes be a symptom of pride, which also originates from the devil. Pride can make us feel like we have to solve our own problems without help. <strong>When we feel like we have to (or should be able to) deal with insurmountable problems by ourselves, our minds can quickly become negative.<\/strong> In contrast, a humble person doesn\u2019t worry because she trusts that God will never give her a problem that she cannot handle with His help. Because of this faith, a humble person can maintain a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-have-a-positive-mindset\/\">positive mindset<\/a> in situations where others succumb to negativity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table><tbody><tr><td><strong>Our Ego in Our Way&nbsp;<\/strong><br><br>Another way that worry can work with pride to hold us back from a positive life is that, as Ryan Holiday discusses in his book <a href=\"https:\/\/shortform.com\/app\/book\/ego-is-the-enemy\"><em>Ego Is the Enemy<\/em><\/a>, when we experience setbacks, our egos, fueled by pride, worry that those setbacks reflect a personal character failure that will lead to permanent and complete failure. This worry can occupy us, filling us with negative emotions, making it difficult for us to think with calm, clear minds, and preventing us from seeking solutions to our problems. This can lead to a negative life not only because we are filled with negative, pride-induced worry, but also because our problems then become permanent.&nbsp;&nbsp;<br><br>Like Meyer, Holiday suggests that humility is an antidote to pride. Successful people, he notes, can control their pride so that they don\u2019t get in their own way. One way he suggests keeping pride in check is to stop thinking so much about ourselves. If we can get our mind off of how great we think we are, he argues that we will have more time to actually <em>do <\/em>the things that will make us successful.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Meyer suggests engaging with the natural world to help manage our worry and anxiety. She explains that, if we observe nature, we\u2019ll see how well God cares for His creation. For example, she notes that birds don\u2019t know where their next meal is coming from, but they don\u2019t seem to be filled with worry about it. Like the birds, she says <strong>we should not be consumed with worry about what our future holds or what we have or don&#8217;t have because God will provide everything we need<\/strong> to live the life that He intends for us.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table><tbody><tr><td><strong>Nature as an Antidote to Stress<\/strong><br><br>Meyer\u2019s suggestion of engaging with nature to help manage worry is backed by a growing body of research. <a href=\"https:\/\/e360.yale.edu\/features\/ecopsychology-how-immersion-in-nature-benefits-your-health\">Enjoying nature can<\/a> lower blood pressure, stress hormones, anxiety, and aggression. It can also calm overactive nervous systems, improve immune system function and self-esteem, and even reduce the time it takes to heal from illness or injury.&nbsp;<br><br>A recent development in this area of research suggests that two hours per week is the minimum amount of time that it takes to experience measurable benefits from immersion in nature.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>How should a believer deal with anxiety? What do birds teach us about spiritual anxiety relief? Christian author Joyce Meyer argues that, if our minds are full of anxiety and worry, it\u2019s a sign we\u2019re under attack from the devil, who uses anxiety and worry to torment us and consume our thoughts with negativity. According to Meyer, worry and anxiety are unproductive emotions that rob us of the present moment, which is a gift from God. She says that birds offer a practical lesson for us all. Keep reading for Meyer&#8217;s perspectives on anxiety.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":62739,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,43,6],"tags":[589],"class_list":["post-62737","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health","category-self-improvement","category-spiritual","tag-battlefield-of-the-mind","","tg-column-two"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v24.3 (Yoast SEO v24.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Spiritual Anxiety Relief: What We Can Learn From Birds - Shortform Books<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The devil uses anxiety to consume our thoughts, robbing us of the present moment. 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