Breathe: The Stress Less Podcast - Waiting Well: How to Stop the Worry Loop While You Wait #203

0:00Life Audio Hi, friend. If you've been stuck in a worry loop lately, replaying the same question over and over while you wait for something to resolve, today I'm going to show you one simple shift that can quiet that loop and help you to live well in the waiting. Hi, friend. Welcome to Breathe, the Stress Less Podcast. I'm Bonnie Gray, your sole care mentor. For this time design just for you, to rest and refresh your soul, you're going to pick up a practical sole care tip based on science, inspired by scripture, to help you to restart

1:03calm, to your day and your weekend, you'll also most importantly receive a loving word of affirmation from God in scripture. This is the time of scripture and science. Well, I'm the best-selling author of Breathe, 21 days to stress, less and transform chaos to calm. Have you gotten a chance to read it yet? Pick up a copy. Spring is about new beginnings, and I want to encourage you to do just that. I am also the founder of sole care school, and I'm a sole care mentor. Now let me ask you something. Is there anything in your life right now that you are waiting on? Maybe you are waiting for your body to heal, a situation to resolve, or maybe it's more clarity about the future, or a relationship to change, or just simply whatever your answer

2:09is to prayer. Are you waiting? Well, while you're waiting, do you notice that your mind keeps circling around the same question? When will this get better? When will this resolve or how long is this going to take? It's like your brain just keeps re-opening the problem, even when you're trying to rest, even as you try to quote unquote, keep busy. Well, today we're going to talk about why unresolved situations create worry loops in our mind, and how learning to wait well, it can bring us surprising peace. We're going to talk about why our brains obsess over problems that don't yet have answers, and how asking a different question can quiet those worry loops, and I'm going to share with you a simple refrain that helped me to stop obsessing about something I am waiting on to resolve just this week.

3:09And what scripture teaches us about returning to rest while we wait. So if you've been carrying something unresolved lately, you're not alone, and this episode is for you. You know, Lent, the season right before Easter, it's six weeks and it's also about waiting, it's about waiting for spring to come, waiting for newness, and I love that Jesus showed us that the way to newness is actually not always that easy. He had to face some pretty tough times, physically, emotionally, socially, and even spiritually, as he really stepped into some challenging times, facing loneliness and betrayal, well, you know what the good news is, I have a Lent Wellness Study that I want to invite you to take with me. I'm going to show you rhythms of rest and emotional wellness to heal your heart during this time. It's something that I did during the season of Lent.

4:10It's not too late to hop on. I know. Sometimes we think, Lent's already started, I'm already behind, but actually Lent is just an invitation. When I first did it, I did it in the last week of Lent as I knew Easter was coming in. It became a new rhythm for me during Lent every year. So just click the link in the show notes so you can check it out, and I want to see you there in that Lent Wellness Course. You'll just have something beautiful to do to fast from busyness and worry, okay? So just click the link that's in the show notes and check it out. Now when we come back, we're going to start talking about how to quiet those worry loops. Hey, if you're struggling with addictions and dependency, take your first step towards freedom today. Pick up a copy of the Life Recovery Bible. Millions of people have chosen this Bible to help them take courageous steps towards the

5:10true source of recovery, Jesus Christ. Encounter God's grace, his love and redemption on the pages of the Life Recovery Bible which is packed with recovery resources, including devotionals, people profiles, study notes, and more. It also looks at the 12 steps to the lens of scripture, which is the best way to approach them. Learn more at www.liferecoverybible.com and pick up a copy today. Need a daily spark of hope and direction? Let the Daily Bible app from Salem Media be that spark. This free Android app delivers an uplifting verse each morning, plus reading plans, devotions, and trusted podcasts from leaders like Joyce Meyer and Rick Warren, prefer to listen instead. The Daily Bible app reads verses, reading plans, and chapters allowed, handy for the headphones moment of your day. Choose from versions like ESV, NIV, KJV, and more, and bookmark favorites to revisit later.

6:11Share inspiring messages with loved ones right from the app. Feel God's presence in every notification. Search for Daily Bible app on Google Play and begin your day with hope, purpose, and peace. Our scripture for today is one of my favorites. It's so peaceful, and it also gives us movement. It's from Psalm 116-7. Return to your rest, my soul, for the Lord has been good to you. Let's just use this beautiful word of affirmation. As our breath prayer, we're going to breathe in and breathe out, just relax your shoulders, loosen those hands, and just breathe slowly, inhale, return to your rest, my soul.

7:12Exhale, the Lord has been good to you. Again, just breathe in, return to your rest, breathe out, the Lord has been good to you. And just pause, let this truth just settle on your heart like morning dew, just settling into the grass on a new morning. That's the soil of your heart. So one of the things that I've been going through right now is recovering from foot pain. The area right below my fourth toe, it's called the fourth metatarsal. It hurts whenever I stand for too long or even walk, and that's really hard for me because for the last 20 years, since I've become a mom, I've taken a morning hike on the trail

8:14every day. Almost every day when the kids go to school, after I drop them off, I would go on my trail walk, and it's my prayer time, it's with God in nature, it's so refreshing. And what's happening now is that I just can't even barely stand, and the most I can walk is maybe 10 minutes, 15 minutes very slowly. It's like those slow walking machines in Star Wars, have you seen the Star Wars that is episode six with Ewoks? There's these AT-AT walkers. I have to lift my foot instead of pressing down, and I'm just walking so slowly, because foot injuries take a long time to heal. There isn't a lot of circulation there, so I'm waiting. And while I'm waiting, I've noticed something else. Because I'm not hiking every morning, I have been gaining some weight, which is understandable. But it made me start thinking, I should try to find some new lower calorie recipes.

9:17But here's the thing. Every time I think about doing that, looking for some recipes, I just felt discouraged. Because deep down, I knew why I was doing it. It was because my foot still isn't restored, it's healing like I have a stale's pace. So it felt like another reminder of this problem that I have. So I just never really get to trying to find recipes. Until something shifted this week, and instead of trying to find new recipes, because my foot wasn't healing, and I was gaining weight, I asked a different question. I asked myself, what if I tried to find a simple salmon recipe that looked delicious, and that I wanted to try? And then suddenly everything changed. Instead of dragging my feet, I got really curious. So the minute I started googling for recipes, looking at the photos and kind of comparing

10:18the ingredients and flavors, okay, now you couldn't tear me away. I ended up finding this incredible recipe. It's so simple. It's called lemon garlic salmon tray bake. And my teenage son Caleb, who isn't even a big fish fan, he took one bite at dinner that evening, and he said, mom, this is so good. And my husband, Eric, he said, oh, we've got to make this again. You know, I just smiled and I said, oh, I'm glad you like it. I didn't even tell them it was because it was healthier because, you know, I was gaining weight. But what I did say is that, oh, yeah, I'm glad you liked this recipe. And so what changed is the question I asked myself. Instead of obsessing about when my foot would heal, I started asking, how can I live well while I wait? So that one shipped help to me to stop obsessing about my foot all day long.

11:21And so, friend, I just want to ask you, I want to offer this question for you, a sole care question. What is something that you are waiting on right now? Now maybe you're asking yourself those same kind of questions, when will this get better, when will this resolve, how long would it take? Well, there's a better question to ask that we can ask it redirects your heart and your brain. But then asking when it will resolve, ask, what is one small thing I can do today that can bring me joy? What would it look like to live well during the season instead of just enduring it? What is something simple I've been wanting to try? That would bring out a little more curiosity into my day. What would you be curious about? When we start asking these kind of questions, something happens in your brain. Instead of staying stuck in the optimization loop, that's when our brain tries to solve

12:22a problem that doesn't have an answer yet. Our brains will shift into a different mode. We begin to focus on what we can experience right now, not what we want to fix in the future. And that shift, focusing on right now, what would help right now, that will quiet that worry loop. So the problem doesn't disappear overnight, but the intensity will fade so that your mind isn't trying to force a resolution that isn't going to come anytime soon. So sometimes the question that changes everything isn't, how do I fix this? It's, how can I live well while I wait? You know, waiting seasons are some of the hardest seasons we go through, right? Because we want closure, but many times, God just invites us. He says, just return to your rest. He knows it's hard.

13:22That's why he's saying to get through the season of waiting, return to your rest. So that's our Psalm 116, passage this week, our breath prayer. Return to your rest, oh my soul. And so, friend, if you're in that waiting season right now, I promise you, you're not the only one. And that God understands why it's difficult. That's why he's inviting you to return to things that will bring you rest, moments of rest, and they make a difference. They'll quiet those worried loops so that they're not so brutalistic, right? Just so intense. And it can give your brain a break and bring peace to your body and lift your day. When we come back, we're going to talk about the science, because that's the least fun, right? Hey, if you're struggling with addictions and dependency, take your first step towards

14:23freedom today. Pick up a copy of the life-free, covering Bible. Millions of people have chosen this Bible to help them take courageous steps towards the true source of recovery, Jesus Christ, encounter God's grace, his love and redemption on the pages of the life-recovery Bible, which is packed with recovery resources, including devotionals, people profiles, study notes, and more. It also looks at the 12 steps to the lens of Scripture, which is the best way to approach them. Learn more at www.life-recoverybible.com and pick up a copy today. Looking for a simple way to stay rooted in God's word every day, the Daily Bible Devotion app by Salem Media gives you morning and evening devotionals designed to encourage, inspire, and keep you connected with Scripture. Plus, you'll enjoy daily Bible trivia and humor, a fun way to learn and share a smile while growing in your face. Find the Daily Bible Devotion app for free on both iOS and Android.

15:28Start an in-your-day with God's word. Search for the Daily Bible Devotion app in the App Store or Google Play Store and download it today. There's a here-something that's really fascinating about our brain. Our brain loves closure. When a problem is unresolved, the brain will keep bringing it back up to our attention. That's like doing its job, okay? That's why when we're quiet or we're trying to rest, that same worry will pop back up. Because our brain thinks that it's helping us. It's saying, hey, this thing you put on the shelf is actually not done yet. Try to solve it. Psychologists call this the ziggerness effect. Research shows that our brains will hold on to unfinished problems more strongly than completed ones. So when something in life feels unresolved, whether it's our health, a decision, a relationship,

16:30the brain will keep bringing it back to our attention because it wants closure. That's why it can still be popping up when you're lying in bed, taking a shower or just sitting quietly. Your brain's just trying to finish the problem. One of the most effective ways to then quiet that loop is to give your brain a new question. It can actually answer. I'm going to repeat this because this is what helped me this past week. Give our brain a new question. It can answer. And so one way is to give your mind a small, meaningful action that brings out curiosity or enjoyment, rest or peace. That is what then dials down that stress and anxiety of waiting. And that leads to our SoulCare Challenge this week. This is a fun one. It's very simple. Always send you out with a fun challenge. Try cooking one new recipe, not because you have to, but because you're curious and

17:31creativity, that part of your brain will stop the worry part of your brain. When you're curious, it just shuts down that worry loop. Research and positive psychology shows that novel experiences trying something new, especially like cooking that uses all your five senses, it will lower stress. So I wonder what new recipe are you going to look for? And you could just start real simply by trying out the lemon garlic salmon tray bake. It's so easy. It was just insane and so delicious. And you might be surprised when you give your brain something new takes for this week. You're going to feel like you're living well as you wait. Let's pray. Dear Jesus, you know the things we're waiting for. You invite us to return to rest as we trust you for the timing and help us to live well in our waiting.

18:32Help us to find your goodness when situations are unresolved and give us the grace to give ourselves a break and to live well, even in the waiting with you by our side. In Jesus' name, amen. Well friend, if you enjoyed today's episode, share it with a friend. It's so fun to share it with a friend and encourage each other. And if you're looking for something to make this season before Easter, one where you're just really intimately walking with Jesus and just feeling His presence in a new way, join me in the Lent Wellness Study and you can just fast for more heinous and guzziness. Just click the link in the show notes and check it out. And I hope to see you there. Remember that you're loved and you are cherished. Just rest. And I'll see you next time. Breathe.

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