Lately, my hormones have been auditioning for a gymnastics team. I might even say they just started working in a theme park. Because it has been a roller coaster at unexpected, random moments. Some days, I can go from energetic and entertaining to quiet and pensive in 0 to 60.
Though I've always been an internal processor, I've never been quite so...internal.
This admittance drove me into research about what to expect at this phase of life, the phase at which it is pretty standard to be experiencing such hormonal behavior, your 40's.
The thought of turning 40 at the end of this year has begun to plague me. Apparently, it's like a silent killer. An unodious stream of consciousness that begins to slowly eat away at your energy, confidence, health, voice, and worth. This could be said of getting older in general. But this is certainly the decade where society plants a mile-marker for "It's All Downhill From Here City".
After doing some reflection with my bestie Chantel, and some hard talks with my sir person :) I was driven to a dramatic halt in my stewing.
My sir said something that stung. "You are letting this consume you. You have power over your hormones. Speak to them." That statement was a huge wake-up call to me, who is an out-and-out champion of the "It Won't Be Me, I Know Who I Am" ideology!
He was right. I know better. I have let the idea that biologically, my feelings are going to change in a violent manner justify my right to behave erratically at a whim. Granted, I know there are some changes to be expected just because of the laws of gravity and due to the fall of man. However, does that mean that's the only option? Does it mean that I have to give into what I'm feeling everytime, simply because the feeling is present? Do I have to respond in kind to my hormones or can I actively participate in a different spirit?
To put it simply, this is what I just heard about ten minutes ago:
Your mood is essentially just your mentality. When your mood changes, it's because your mentality changed.
'I have anxiety' and 'I am menopausal' is powerless and helpless - it's victim mentality. You feel incapable of not being affected by situations, people, memories, trauma, etc. It's a way of operating that puts all of the power, all of the pressure, all of the responsibility on the world around you, where it does not belong.
This revelation, therefore, is a game-changer. A #kingdom shift in thought.
Feelings are something you can't control.
Mentality is something you can.
#Kingdom shifts in thought always empower us through Christ to participate in the success of our own lives, rather than be victimized by them. You don't simply surrender to defeat and you certainly don't sit around asking God to handle it for you.
I am a true lover of Jesus, but disagree with many Christian ideologies of my people. (Call me what you must, I'm just the one saying it, not the only thinking it.) One being that 'God is in control', as they say. At its core, this disempowers us from having responsibility in our own lives - a methodology that was not in the original design of God for mankind.
It's easy to pray about these things as well, transferring the weight to God to fix or change those feelings. But, I would say the onus is upon us to do the fixing.
A fixing of our mentality.
I think that's why Paul said we should renew our minds. Heck, he beseeched it. Way bigger. LOL.
So, whether you are dealing with hormonal, life changes, or battling with depression and anxiety, remember that you don't have to do what the voices tell you. It's funny but true. Demonic forces offer up lies ripe for the taking. We attribute it to some sort of necessitous rite of passage, as if it's more appropriate to cower to our frail humanity than rule over from our potent spirit. The one Jesus died to give back to us.
We can do this, guys. Don't believe the lies. Cuz the devil lying' a$$ got us hypnotized. #bar
***beatboxes to the rhyme, backs up***
P.S. Next time your mood is high, write down your thoughts. And the next time your mood dives, write down your thoughts. You will see where the problem is.
P.S.S. Some great things to start your renewed thinking:
-I am perfectly spotless, perfectly powerful, and perfectly LOVED, I am one with the Godhead <ref>
-And one more...
"So we are convinced that every detail of our lives is continually woven together for good, for we are his lovers who have been called to fulfill his designed purpose. For he knew all about us before we were born and he destined us from the beginning to share the likeness of his Son. This means the Son is the oldest among a vast family of brothers and sisters who will become just like him.
Having determined our destiny ahead of time, he called us to himself and transferred his perfect righteousness to everyone he called. And those who possess his perfect righteousness he co-glorified with his Son!
So what does all this mean? If God has determined to stand with us, tell me, who then could ever stand against us? For God has proved his love by giving us his greatest treasure, the gift of his Son. And since God freely offered him up as the sacrifice for us all, he certainly won't withhold from us anything else he has to give.
Who then would dare to accuse those who God has chosen in love to be his? God himself is the judge who has issued his final verdict over them --"Not guilty!"
Who then is left to condemn us? Certainly not Jesus, the Anointed One! For he gave his life for us, and even more than that, he has conquered death and is now risen, exalted, and enthroned by God at his right hand. So how could he possibly condemn us since he is continually praying for our triumph?
Who could ever divorce us from the endless love of God's Anointed One? Absolutely no one! For nothing in the universe has the power to diminish his love toward us. Troubles, pressures, and problems are unable to come between us and heaven's love. What about persecutions, deprivations, dangers, and death threats? No for they are all impotent to hinder omnipotent love...
Yet even in the midst of all these things, we triumph over them all for God has made us to be more than conquerors, and his demonstrated love is our glorious victory over everything!
So now I live with the confidence that there is nothing in the universe with the power to separate us from god's love. I'm convinced that his love will triumph over death, life's troubles, fallen angels, or dark rulers in the heavens. There is nothing in our present or future circumstances that can weaken his love. There is no power above us or beneath us--no power that could ever be found in the universe that can distance us from God's passionate love, which is lavished upon us through our Lord Jesus, the Anointed One!"
Romans 8:28-39