How to Get Rid of Stress and Anxiety--Forever

Eric says I'm a worrier.  He thinks I like to have something to worry about.  Once one problem is solved, I look for the next problem.

He's right in many ways.  Although I like to think of myself as a happy, optimistic person, I still get anxious about a lot of different things.

Sometimes I worry about my mom and how I wish I could just have her move in with me.  I worry about my neighbor's son who has been struggling since the death of his brother.  I worry about politics, struggles in society, my husband and children, whether I'm doing a good enough job with all my responsibilities, and about a lot of other things too personal to record here.

But as I've been reading my scriptures lately, I've been thinking about the power of the Lord--and how a perfect faith in Him can calm the stress and anxiety I feel.  It seems too good to be true, but a few months ago, I started to sense a glimmer of hope.

So I opened my scriptures and stuck a Post-it note in the front cover that reads, "How can I draw upon the powers of heaven--to the point that I no longer feel any stress or anxiety in my life--through faith in the atonement of Jesus Christ?"

And now each morning, I read the scriptures with that question in mind.

Then I record my answers on another Post-it note:

And I'll keep adding to this each day.

It's amazing to me how this process takes my stress and anxiety away and fills me with a confidence and hope I didn't know was possible.  But this isn't a one-time thing.  It's something I have to repeat each morning, think about during the day, and commit to live--even when life gets tricky.

A couple of weeks ago, my friend Kaylie asked if I would accompany her in church as she was singing "Savior, Redeemer, of My Soul."

I practiced the song for a few days, and I felt the most incredible peace, power, joy, and love as I sang the song in my head throughout my week.  I found this video of the song, if you'd like to hear it.  The singer begins at about 2 minutes, 14 seconds.


There's another version by Dallyn Bayles that is beautiful as well.

I've memorized most of the words, and I sing them while I'm blow drying my hair, while I'm loading the dishwasher, and whenever my heart needs strength.

(Here are the lyrics, if you'd like to sing along.)

1. Savior, Redeemer of my soul,
Whose mighty hand hath made me whole,
Whose wondrous pow’r hath raised me up
And filled with sweet my bitter cup!
What tongue my gratitude can tell,
O gracious God of Israel.

2. Never can I repay thee, Lord,
But I can love thee. Thy pure word,
Hath it not been my one delight,
My joy by day, my dream by night?
Then let my lips proclaim it still,
And all my life reflect thy will.

3. O’errule mine acts to serve thine ends.
Change frowning foes to smiling friends.
Chasten my soul till I shall be
In perfect harmony with thee.
Make me more worthy of thy love,
And fit me for the life above.

Text: Orson F. Whitney, 1855–1931

There are a lot of things to do.  And there are a lot of reasons to be stressed and anxious. But coming to the Lord and letting His power guide and lift us is the best solution I have ever known.  He is wonderful.

Much love,
April