“Focus on the Present” by Joan Y. Edwards

Perhaps you are like me. You may have many experiences that overwhelm you and put you in the worry mode. Troubled and puzzled about how to handle problems with family members or friends, problems with your dwelling, your health, your finances, your car, your job, etc.). You may not be able to put your thoughts and emotions at peace within your body, mind, and spirit. You may become very anxious, full of fear and not feeling comfortable at all because you aren’t able to figure them out. Your mind moves from the present to the past or the future. You can’t seem to just focus on the present time.

Perhaps it is like you are at the Supermarket and all of these troubling experiences are in the check out line waiting to be charged and put into an appropriate sized bag in your cart (your body, mind, and spirit). However, your old ways of handling things no longer work.  Old Used-ta is no longer in service. The Goldilocks time. when everything went “just right” has disappeared.

It is like watching a movie of your life.  You keep on rewinding it to different past hurtful events in your life that were similar to the ones you are having at the present time. However, your old ways  of handling these emotional things don’t work any more. They don’t put you at peace. You need new ways. New awareness. New points of view.

At times like this, perhaps your inner critic enters the scene and tells you that you are not doing it right. The way to tame your inner critic is to prove him wrong by bolstering your self-confidence and building stronger coping techniques that put your mind, body, and spirit at peace. Your inner critic wants to protect you. God will help you tame your inner critic. I believe that if you are constantly hearing negative voices inside your head that the devil may be tempting you. He wants you to believe all the bad stuff about yourself. He wants you to doubt yourself. Doubt your goodness and mercy. God will help you tame him and shut him up. I asked God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit to live within me and help me.

God helped me do a retreat at home. I prayed, searched for sources online, and talked with family and friends. Doing your own personal retreat may help you gain your self-confidence back, give you awareness, wisdom, and understanding. God will help you put a stop to the painful memories and worries about the future outcome of your choices and experiences.

Sometimes you and I hand things to God and then worry about them anyway. We give it to God with our right hands, and take it back with our left.  Being human is tricky at times. Inner peace is God within us. Ask him to build more of it in you.

After I did this self-retreat and began focusing on the present rather than the past or on the future. Things were better inside me. I went on an adventure. I went to Georgia for a baby shower. A wonderful occasion. Thank you, God for blessing us with new life. We went for a boat ride on Blue Ridge Lake: my two daughters, my youngest granddaughter, my niece and her friend who was the captain of the motor boat.

At one point everyone except me decided to swim in the lake. They all had on their swimming suits and life vests. I walked to the back of the boat to take pictures of them.

All of a sudden, my older daughter says, “Momma, you’re going farther away.” I looked around and noticed that was true. I was definitely going away from them. So I said as I waved, “Bon Voyage! Bon Voyage!”

I said, “I’ll call 911.”

My older daughter said, “Momma, there’s no cell service here on the lake.”

I said, “I’ll call any way.”

They were all laughing so much that if they didn’t have on their life vests, they might have drowned from laughing so hard.

The man who was captain of the boat swam to the boat and threw out a different anchor. He said the one he had used before was too short and didn’t take hold in the bottom of the lake. Hence, my “Bon Voyage.”

I hope this story makes you laugh. It had a happy ending. All of us safe on shore later.

I put links to the most helpful YouTube videos that God led me to and that helped me during my self-retreat.  I hope if you watch any of them that they help you build inner confidence and faith that you and God have got this. That God is not going to desert you or abandon your cry for help.

Philippians 4:7 “And the peace of God which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ, Jesus.”

Please leave me a comment. If you have  scriptures or other resources that have helped you when you feel anxious, worried about the past. present, or the future, I would really like to hear from you in the comment area.

Never Give  Up
Joan Y.  Edwards
Copyright 2025

Resources

1. 4 Powerful Things To Tell Yourself Every Morning | Shi Heng Yi Best Speech
https://youtu.be/et4JI6fA0Hs?si=vY7ysCFZuDbiEhst

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