Feeling stressed out? Drain the pressure off!

If married people think we singles live stress-free lives, they're badly misinformed. We may not have the same kinds of problems they have, but we have no shortage of unique irritations to deal with.

This month's feature article shows how to pick a smart relief valve, something that drains the pressure off in a way that lets you get a fresh start until things build up again.

There are right ways and wrong ways to go about this. As I approach my seventh decade on this planet, I've seen lots of both. When you're young, it's wise to learn from the mistakes of others. There's no need to experience that heartbreak yourself to gain the lesson from it.

So let's look at stress-busters, the good and bad. These three simple steps can give you the break you need when you're feeling stressed out.

Don't want to stay

My life was defined by too many tears,
in a canyon twenty miles deep.
I held myself back with too many fears;
I was stumbling around in my sleep.

I don't want to stay the same,
and keep on living this way.
I want to rise up and be who I am.
I long for a brand new day.

I called out to God and reached out my hand,
and begged Him to pull me out.
But the way that He did was not what I planned
I expected a more painful route.

The way that He chose took place in the past
in a land many miles away.
I never expected that offer to last
and to reach me right here today.

He lifted his Son up out of the grave
and His grace still flows down to me.
That is the way He chooses to save.
That is how God sets us free.

I don't want to stay the same,
and keep on living this way.
I want to rise up and be who I am.
I long for a brand new day.

If you are tired of living a lie,
If you don't want to stay the same.
Jesus the Savior will answer your cry.
If you only believe in His name.

~ Jack Zavada, 2019, www.inspiration-for-singles.com ~

When you wake up in the morning, do you feel like jumping out of bed to start a new adventure?

If not, the missing ingredient is hope. The single life has a way of turning your hope into roadkill, making each day a foot-slogging ordeal instead of an exciting celebration.

Hope for Hurting Singles can change that. This is not one of those sappy self-help books that's as nourishing as cotton candy. No, this guide to the single life digs deep into the aggravations that steal your joy and offers real, proven solutions.

Proven? Darn right! Author Jack Zavada took his 40 years of trial-and-error and converted those lessons into an action plan for true, lasting change.

Hope for Hurting Singles shows you how to fix your faulty thinking and replace it with clear-eyed truth. This stuff isn't for wimps! It's for singles who are serious about breaking free from negative patterns and reaching for a bigger, happier life.

Is that you? You can find out by reading the entire first chapter, free, RIGHT HERE.

Hope for Hurting Singles is only $10.99 at amazon.com. Put on your grown-up pants and order your copy today!

'Amazing Grace' way to deal with stress

John Newton's song "Amazing Grace" has brought comfort to millions. But before he was a hymn writer and clergyman, Newton was a captain of slave ships, who converted to Christ and became an abolitionist.

Here's Newton's April Quote of the Month:

“We can easily manage if we will only take, each day, the burden appointed to it. But the load will be too heavy for us if we carry yesterday’s burden over again today, and then add the burden of the morrow before we are required to bear it.”
~ John Newton (1725-1807) ~

Dealing with stress really is about trusting God, the Master of Time. He forgives our sins from the past, he gives us courage in the present, and he protects our future. We can only live in the present moment, but we can easily ruin that by dragging the anchor of yesterday or squinting to see what's coming tomorrow.

Olympic-class worriers will tell you they wasted enormous energy during their lifetime fretting over things that never happened. Yes, plan and prepare as best you can. After that, deal with right now. That's the best any of us can do.

What does Easter have to do with stress?

When Jesus Christ rose from the dead 2,000 years ago, that event sent a powerful message to his followers for the rest of eternity:

Everything is going to be all right.

In my own life, I sometimes wrestle with opportunities lost, failures, and unfulfilled dreams. Then I remind myself of the message of Easter: Everything is going to be all right. This isn't a fairy tale or pie-in-the-sky thinking. It's the truth of the empty tomb telling you and me that we have eternal life, and in that life to come, things will be as they should be, not as they are here on a sin-ruined earth.

Again, that doesn't give us an excuse to be passive now, but rather assures us that when things don't work out, it's not final forever.

Easter gives hope to the disabled, the discouraged, the singles who never got married but wish they had. We don't know all the details of heaven, then later the New Heaven and the New Earth. We can know those places will be like their Creator: good.

So take heart this Easter, single Christian. Your story is far from finished. Our Savior saves us from the bad and delivers us to the good. Everything is going to be all right.

What do I want you to take away?

Like most things, this newsletter and www.inspiration-for-singles.com won't be around forever. Readers come and go all the time, and eventually something else will replace this in your life.

Over the past 14 years, I've dug into Scripture and my own experience and tried to give you some basic principles that have worked in my life. As I've said before, I'm no guru, but I have learned some lessons I think are worthwhile for younger singles. I hope a few like these will stick in your memory and serve you the rest of your days:

Your self-confidence and sense of adequacy must come from only one source: an intimate, personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

Everyone—without exception—is putting on a front.

The more of your troubles you give to God, the calmer your mind will become.

Being grateful for even the most basic things will turn your life around.

You can only do your best. You can't do more than that.

No matter what happens, God is always for you.

I hope you'll share www.inspiration-for-singles.com with your friends and forward this newsletter to them when you feel it might help. Our secure contact form may seem sort of sterile, but it's absolutely necessary to protect my computer from spambots and hackers who are prowling the web for email addresses.

I promise you any message you send me through the contact form does get routed to my personal inbox, and I will reply to you.

That wraps up our April newsletter, fellow singleoid, and I hope reading it didn't stress you out! We'll be back in your inbox in May with more new stuff.

Have a blessed Easter, and remember, kindness is fr'ee but priceless!

Jack Zavada

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