written by: Jenna 

When my daughter was 17 months old, she had a life threatening incident. To this day, it still proves to be the most terrifying moment of my life. It was by angelic grace that I even caught my daughter having the seizure, for it proved to be life saving that I was there to witness it. She was given CPR and flown away in the Medevac to the children’s hospital.  The memory of that ride to the hospital is etched in my mind forever.  I was panic stricken and begging God not to take her.  She would not wake up for 2 days, and she stayed in the NICU for a week. Extensive testing was done, and the doctors said she had two conditions that would both stick around until the age of five, and hopefully they would disappear after that. “Only four more years I have to worry and wonder if this would happen again,” is what I sarcastically remember thinking.  Four years seemed overwhelmingly long.  As my anxiety grew that week, a friend of ours came to visit our family in the hospital. I relayed to him and his wife how scared I was about her health, and this happening again . My friend looked at me and said “Jenna, you can’t worry about tomorrow . You can’t fear the future. You need to have faith and just live your life, and move ahead.” Moving ahead in times of worry, times of distress, and times of fear is incredibly hard.  But, at that moment, I knew that is exactly what I needed to do to get through this frightening time.

So many times in life we let fear take over. We worry about anything and everything. I know because I was an A+ worrier when I had anxiety. I was a “What If” thinker for a long time. What is this happens, what if this goes wrong, etc.  I would take my problems with me to bed at night, and let them brew all night long. This did nothing for me except zap my energy, and rob me from a much needed good nights sleep, and it just keeps repeating the cycle. The cycle needs to be broken.  Norman Vincent Peale said “The basic secret of overcoming worry is the substitute of faith for fear as your dominant mental attitude. Two great forces in this world are more powerful than all others. One is fear and the other is faith; and faith is stronger than fear.”

When you lay in bed at night, try to empty your mind from the days events. Do not worry and fret about what tomorrow may bring. Come up with a mantra that you would like to have manifest in your life, and say it over and over again. Start by saying I Am, and follow it with what you want yourself to be. I am peaceful. I am strong. I am courageous. I am full of gratitude. Whatever works for you.  Also, incorporate into your day at least 10 minutes of silence or meditation. Learning to quiet the mind will help to relieve some of the worry and stress that you have. You are strong and powerful.  No matter where you are in life or what challenges you may be facing, you have the strength and power inside of you to rise above and overcome.  Let faith wipeout fear in your life.  As the wise bear Winnie the Poo said, “You are braver than you believe, stronger than you see, and smarter than you think. ” Don’t go to bed with tomorrow. Live in the moment. Be grateful for the small miracles in everyday living. My daughter is 6 years old today and healthy and happy. Those 4 long years to wait went by so quickly, and I was grateful I got to witness every single second of them.

Hope On. Journey On.

Jenna