{"id":39947,"date":"2013-06-11T08:11:20","date_gmt":"2013-06-11T13:11:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.austincnm.com\/?p=39947"},"modified":"2013-06-11T09:00:48","modified_gmt":"2013-06-11T14:00:48","slug":"dont-freak-out","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2013\/06\/dont-freak-out\/","title":{"rendered":"Dont Freak Out"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

drawing by Jon Devlin<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

Putting up with things that irritate us builds character. I think that is because when we are in a situation we can\u2019t change, the only option is changing ourselves. \u201cThis is a good life skill,\u201d I tell my kids. It is also a good skill for developing the spiritual life because it’s good training for the mind, for self control and endurance. Besides it\u2019s no fun to freak out all the time. What does it get us\u2026. but a lot of freak-out? And there’s nothing you can’t make worse by more of THAT!<\/p>\n

Here are some things I have tried to help me not freak out.<\/p>\n

Paying bills can be stressful. You know how when you are paying bills your shoulders get really tense and sometimes your back too, and if anybody says anything to you, you say, \u201cLeave me alone I\u2019m paying BILLS!\u201d I decided that attitude needed work. \u00a0I tried a change of venue. I picked a place that it seems silly to pay bills. Then I could be amused. I try to amuse myself as often as possible. It helps a lot with life. So I paid bills in the tree house. I kept smiling because it was a goofy thing to do.<\/p>\n

I wrote, \u00a0\u201d thank you so much,\u201d on each bill. Thank you for the electricity. Thank you for the car. Thank you, veterinarian, \u00a0for helping when my dog was sick.<\/em>
\nThank you, God, that I can pay these bills. Thank you.<\/em> Gratitude is an even better tool than self -amusement.<\/p>\n

I enjoyed puting rose petals in the envelopes of each payment. I imagined the various possible reactions to this. “Made my day? Is it anthrax? Who’s does<\/em> that?” This also amused me.<\/p>\n

Loud neighbors can be annoying. I had neighbors last year who screamed at each other and honked car horns several times a day. One time when the screaming and car horns started, I thought. \u201cI HATE THIS!” This is a red light for me mentally. I usually don\u2019t allow my mind to think, “I hate this,” about anything since that thought never leads to anything good. I took a deep breath, and I remembered St. Therese the Little Flower and all she did to train her mind in the face of annoyance to leave it free and peaceful for God. What could I do?<\/p>\n

I told my family that from now on that screaming and honking was code for, \u201cSmile, Jesus loves you!\u201d It worked. From then on whenever the yelling started, one of us would say, \u201cSmile, Jesus loves you!\u201d and we would start laughing. I\u2019m glad we learned how to let that frustration go. When my husband was sick, those very people came over and helped me when I needed it. If I had stayed mad at them all the time and just thought of them as \u201cthe screamy neighbors,\u201d I would never have gotten to know them. They had some wonderful qualities.<\/p>\n

The young people who live next door now play very loud music at times. I was enjoying a quiet fall day on my front porch one time when they started that noise. First I amused my self with the thought that I can out blast them any time. I have some enormous speakers. What got me laughing and letting go was the funny thought of getting a recording of a nice, quiet fall day and blasting that. Suddenly the young people would be overcome with an unaccustomed sense of inner peace, and they would be stunned! That made me laugh. They turned it off after a while. I diffused my inner volatility with a series of funny images and thoughts. I win!<\/p>\n

Waiting in line or being stuck somewhere can be maddening. \u00a0One wild grocery store day, stuck in line, I tried looking at the covers of magazines by the register to entertain myself. These seemed not good for anyone to look at ; you know- magazine covers about who looked bad in her bathing suit this week, or with titles like “Potato Juice Keeps You Young and Sexy.” \u00a0My other choices seemed to be \u00a0lighters, candy and soda. I asked Jesus silently, \u201cWhat would You look at if You were here?\u201d The thought came to me that Jesus would look at the people. \u201cLook at the people and love them.\u201d<\/em> So I started working on that. I looked at each person around me and noticed how they seemed to be doing. I mentally blessed each one or prayed for each one. I felt very peaceful and<\/em> entertained.<\/p>\n

During long, boring trips to Lowe\u2019s with my husband, Bob, I always had a rosary in my pocket. I thought I may as well try and be useful to the world while I suffered. Another thing I tried was to ride in the cart and have him push me around. That helps too. He wanted to bring me, after all. It made us both laugh for me to do this. He enjoyed throwing his items into the cart on me too.<\/p>\n

Being overstimulated makes it difficult to think.<\/p>\n

If there is too much going on and I need to concentrate, I go within myself as I would for prayer. I close my eyes, and I go to that dark interior center of myself where God is. Staying there even for a second can restore me to sanity and renew my perspective. I might imagine resting my face on Jesus\u2019 chest for a minute. I may go someplace calm in my mind momentarily. It helps.<\/p>\n

We Catholics have a great array of \u201cmantras\u201d of our own; prayer words, short prayers, and litanies that are useful when we feel overwhelmed. I have a little note up that says, \u201cKeep calm and say a Hail Mary.\u201d Or I repeat the Jesus prayer or the Holy Name, or one of those one-liners like \u201cMay the Sacred Heart of Jesus be praised adored and loved.\u201d Saying over some memorized Scripture is helpful too in times when I feel a sense of overload, frustration or impatience.<\/p>\n

When somebody pulls out in front of me in traffic, my daughters know I will growl, “RAWR!” Then right away I will say, “God bless you have a nice day and I hope \u00a0there is a happy surprise for you when you get home, maybe cake, maybe puppies….,” and I’ll go on with this stupid list of things until either I’m laughing or my girls are.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

Being interrupted is irritating. When I am interrupted, it helps if I interpret the interruption as the Holy Spirit\u2019s action in my day. Sometimes I plan one kind of day but it works out totally differently. It can be jarring to be interrupted \u00a0when I am busy or to have my day go \u201cout of control.\u201d It helps if I let go and let God order my day. I ask Him to show me what He wants. I try to forget what I wanted to do and just be with who ever I am with, pay complete attention to what\u2019s happening in the moment I am in. Often when I get to the end of a day that could have been exasperating, I will see the grace in the interruptions. It is usually the demands of love and relationship that interrupt us. At the end of the day that\u2019s what matters most anyway… the love and the relationships.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Philippians 4:8 tells us to fill our minds with beauty and we will know God\u2019s peace. Jesus said peacemakers are children of God. Sometimes temple tables actually need to be over turned or some Pharisees stood up to. However most of the time, I think I should tend towards a more peaceful, elastic, accepting mind that God can work with. My brain believes what I tell it. Usually I tell it stuff is funny and that everything is in Divine Order. Sometimes I say to myself, \u201cThis will make a great story some day.\u201d And it does.<\/p>\n

By the way, as I wrote this article, I was interrupted twice by each of my kids and also had to listen to some music I didn\u2019t really like and the kitten would not stop mewing. But I didn\u2019t freak out. \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\""Our<\/a>

“Our Tree House” by Bob Chapman<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  Putting up with things that irritate us builds character. I think that is because when we are in a situation we can\u2019t change, the only option is changing ourselves. \u201cThis is a good life skill,\u201d I tell my kids. It is also a good skill for developing the spiritual life because it’s good training… [Read More]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":155,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"{title}\n\n{excerpt}\n\n{url}","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[90],"tags":[1752,1753,859],"class_list":["post-39947","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-faith-blog","tag-calm","tag-graditude","tag-spirituality","entry","has-post-thumbnail"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":195595,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2016\/01\/review-forming-intentional-disciples\/","url_meta":{"origin":39947,"position":0},"title":"Taking Steps Toward the Savior (Review: “Forming Intentional Disciples”)","author":"Lindsay Wilcox","date":"January 5, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Do you have a relationship with Jesus? Do you believe God has a mission for your life? Do you tell other people, honestly and openly, about the ways the Holy Spirit works in your day-to-day? Or does all of that sound \"too Protestant\"? Are those things normal for you? Do\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Faith"","block_context":{"text":"Faith","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/category\/acnm\/blog\/faith-blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"A Review of \"Forming Intentional Disciples\" at AustinCNM.com","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/acnm_formingintentionaldisciples.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":337604,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2016\/12\/merry-tolerance\/","url_meta":{"origin":39947,"position":1},"title":"Merry Tolerance","author":"Shawn Rain Chapman","date":"December 20, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"While my bread is rising I feel like talking about what I was thinking about while I was kneading. I was thinking about the \"Keep Christ In Christmas\" thing. I think that as a friendly reminder to fellow Christians not to get caught up in the shopping, social obligations, travel\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blog"","block_context":{"text":"Blog","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/category\/acnm\/blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/atxcatholic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/14265065_1056925434423946_2384803780469055458_n-150x150.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1542680,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2019\/02\/a-quest-to-forgive\/","url_meta":{"origin":39947,"position":2},"title":"A quest to forgive","author":"Shawn Rain Chapman","date":"February 6, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Forgiveness is at the very heart of the Gospel, and it is a clear tenet of our faith. Jesus made it clear he expects us to forgive as we have been forgiven. But what about traumatic, destructive wrongs done to us? What about toxic relationships and people who have done\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blog"","block_context":{"text":"Blog","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/category\/acnm\/blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":160519,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2015\/10\/get-to-work-reflections-on-turning-30\/","url_meta":{"origin":39947,"position":3},"title":"Get to Work: Reflections on Turning 30","author":"Britt Echtenkamp","date":"October 12, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Jesus was about thirty years old when he began his work. - Luke 3:23 I spent the eve of my 30th birthday sitting in the car eating Oreos, and wearing old workout clothes, pigtails and Converse. Had I not included \"30th birthday\" in that sentence, I could have been describing\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blog"","block_context":{"text":"Blog","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/category\/acnm\/blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":41068,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2013\/08\/tips-on-the-new-evangelization\/","url_meta":{"origin":39947,"position":4},"title":"Tips on the New Evangelization","author":"Laurelin Ontai","date":"August 10, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"In this Year of Faith, I have really been challenged in the mission of evangelization. I\u2019ve found more and more people asking me about my Catholic faith. We as humans are naturally curious. Aside from the \u201chaters\u201d, people are fascinated by the Catholic faith because of its supernatural uniqueness. Ya\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blog"","block_context":{"text":"Blog","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/category\/acnm\/blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"At the Cross. Photo by Doug Wheller.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/5913028340_f2ca6be060.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":106106,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2015\/04\/sunday-says-april-19-2015-mass-readings-and-reflection\/","url_meta":{"origin":39947,"position":5},"title":"Sunday Says – April 19, 2015 Mass Readings and Reflection","author":"Crist\u00f3bal Almanza Herrera","date":"April 18, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Third Sunday of Easter Lectionary: 47 (NAB Readings) (Jerusalem Bible Readings) Reading 1 Acts 3:13-15, 17-19 In the season of easter, we place a large scriptural focus on the book of the Acts of the Apostles to show the important consequences of the resurrection of Jesus. We continue this week\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Sunday Says"","block_context":{"text":"Sunday Says","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/category\/acnm\/podcast\/sundaysays\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Sunday Says Podcast","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/SundaySaysPodcast-logo-630x486.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/SundaySaysPodcast-logo-630x486.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/SundaySaysPodcast-logo-630x486.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39947","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/155"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39947"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39947\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39947"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39947"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39947"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}