Book Review: OVERLOAD

SQYI

April 23, 2022

How to Unplug, Unwind, and Unleash Yourself from the Pressure of Stress

By Joyce Meyer

This book is anchored on Proverbs 12:25- “Anxiety in a man’s heart weighs it down, but an encouraging word makes it glad.” Stress is something everyone deals with, the way you enjoy life is dependent to a great extent on high you manage everyday stress. We all need to keep calm and de-stress. No one is too strong for stress, in fact, you might be stressed without realising it. You need to start defeating stress today. Stress steals our health, peace, rest, relationships, and laughter. It has physical, emotional, and behaviour negative effects. God has a better life in store for us other than a stressful life. Joyce Meyer in this book identified five (5) ways to De-Stress:

Seek out social support (family, church, groups and clubs, counseling)
Practice “Shrug Therapy” (Acknowledging situations you can do nothing about at the moment and let go)
Find your comfort zone and stay there (Avoid activities and people that steal your joy)
Nutrition, proven supplements, a healthy diet, and exercise
Schedule time to relax

It is important to identify the causes of stress and deal with it regardless of its weight, our body reacts to major and minor stress the same way. Rather than fixing all, keep calm and choose to trust God.

Trying to be in control of everything breeds stress, trust God completely to control every detail of your life. The quickest way to peace is learning to submit every decision in your life to God. We need to move from self-dependence to God-dependence. Stress in its most basic form is a type of panic. Most of the things we stress about are not real dangers, they are perceived dangers. The best way to defeat stress is refusing to push the panic button. To prevent stress, confidence in God is needed. Our part is to trust God and His part is to provide the answer we need. Handling stress is not really complicated, rather than holding on to what is stressing us, we can exchange it for God’s peace and joy. Oftentimes, stress happens through no fault of ours, it is therefore important to stop getting upset about little things we can’t control. In Christ, it is possible to live in God’s rest and find relief from the demands of stress and worry. Are you stressed or at rest?; A worrier or a grateful worshipper?; Hectic or happy? Always being in a hurry is a sign that you need to prioritise and shed some activities. You need to move at God’s pace, not at another person’s pace. Control your schedule, don’t let it control you.

Decisions we make and steps we take influence our life outcomes. We may not be able to choose what happens in the environment around us, but we can certainly choose how to respond to it. While trusting God to sort the situation. We need to take action, don’t be passive, take the first step. Take the first step in defeating stress by addressing the cause. Another way to overcome stress is to remember God’s goodness, there is a long list of benefits of being a child of God. A natural cure for stress is to focus on what is right. Another step to destress is to simplify your life. Having too many choices can negatively affect us and actually bring us a tremendous amount of unnecessary stress. Don’t be distracted by the array of modern options, keep it simple. To simplify things in your life:

Ask God for direction
Simplify the decision-making process (Be content with where God has you, slow down, and reduce your options)
Seek good advice
Be confident and decisive
Let peace make the call

The Holy Spirit is our ultimate guide and if we ask God, He will give us the wisdom we need to make decision.

Laughter is vitally important in the battle against stress, anxiety, fear, and worry. It is a natural remedy to defeat stress and fight against infirmities. You can plan to laugh on purpose by scheduling time to watch or read funny information or movies, hang around funny and encouraging people, laugh at yourself and change your perspective. The Joy of the Lord can ease any emotional and physical pain and bring you a new level of satisfaction in life. Comparison is another stressor you must avoid. The more you compare your life to those around you, the less you’ll enjoy the life God has given you. The things in your life that make you different aren’t hindrances, they are assets. Trying to do something God has not given you the ability to do is writing an invitation for stress. Nothing good comes out of trying to imitate, compete with, or outdo someone else. Our spiritual DNA in Christ is to feel safe, secure, confident, and bold.

To stay out of stress, you need to change your conversation. Words can lift us into ecstasy or they can cause some of the worst emotional pain we can feel as humans. A large number of people are stressed by their own conversations. Don’t talk yourself out of victory. Instead of feeding yourself with a steady diet of bad news, choose to read, watch and talk about good things. You can avoid a lot of stress by talking only when something truly worthy of being said is required. Talking too much can disturb our peace and cause stress.

Life is not a sprint, it is a marathon, enjoy the journey. Peace and happiness are choices you have to make. You can choose to be joyful, content, and love life regardless of the circumstances around you. You can choose to be in control of your happiness instead of letting your circumstances control you. Control yourself, not other people. You can learn to be content when you still have a long way to go. You can even enjoy life in the midst of deep pain. This comes by trusting God and in His perfect plan for your life. Attacking tress head-on, there are certain changes that should be made. Seven-point action plan:

Start your day by spending time with God.
Exercise
Get enough sleep
Take a vacation
Give yourself a reward
Evaluate your influences
Do less, not more

Stress is not unique to this generation; our focus should be on getting our perspective right. The right mindset and attitude can completely turn a situation around. The Holy Spirit is our guide in having a change of mindset that helps keep stress at bay. Don’t waste the energy God has given you on stress. Save it for living and enjoying life. Make a choice to see things from God’s viewpoint. The quickest way to defeat stress is by blessing others. Obsession with self is a breeding ground for stress, pressure, and anxiety. Love God, yourself and others. Love is not just a feeling or a theory; it’s a decision we make and an action we take. Treat others the way you want to be treated. Identify ways you can serve, help, and bless others.

You can have a fresh start of a peaceful and joyful life. With God, you don’t have to live in the bondage and pain of yesterday, you can live in the beauty and promise of tomorrow. Choose to live with hope. Press on, even when it is difficult. Focus on how far you have come already. Some simple ways to de-stress identified in this book includes the following: