What can wreak more havoc on your body than anything else? Are you thinking fast food, diet soda, or doughnuts? While these certainly aren’t the healthiest choices, the answer in my book is STRESS!

What is disease except dis-ease? A state of not being at ease either with your circumstances other people, or even yourself! Each of these areas will, at the very least, warrant a blog post of their own but today I’ll focus on circumstances…disappointing ones.

Life events that you can “seemingly” do nothing about can be stressful, but they don’t have to be. I say “seemingly” because there is something we can do about them and it all has to do with our PERSPECTIVE!

Life has a way of throwing us a curveball every once in a while. Sometimes, a couple of them in the same inning! After a year of chemotherapy, in an attempt to tame the lupus beast (an autoimmune dysfunction), I went into complete kidney failure. Fifteen hours of daily dialysis for 11 consecutive months was definitely a curveball. How did I get through it? Perspective was key. it wasn’t the only thing, but it certainly played a significant role is keeping stress at bay.

Most people have heard what has almost become a cliche these days, “Everything happens for a reason.” Beyond that is this: Regardless of the difficulty, things really do work out for the best.

Recently, I listened to a message from a Christian Bible teacher named Joyce Meyer. She made a profound statement that rang true for me. She said that when people ask, “Why do bad things happen to good people?” that the question should actually be, “What happens to good people when bad things happen to them?” Now that’s perspective…and the answer? They batter up, that’s what!

I believe that mitigating stress comes with perspective and here was mine during my dialysis days. How will I grow for the better as a result of this experience? Who can I empathize with and help that perhaps I wouldn’t have had the ability to relate to and assist before? Most importantly, to my heart was this: How can I see the hand of God working on my behalf that I might be more aware of His constant care, protection, and continual love for me? Now that’s a grand slam!

“And we know that in ALL things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28 NIV, emphasis mine).