Home for the holidays can often present a great deal of anxiety. What is supposed to be a joyous time of sitting around the fireplace with hot cocoa and laughter can quickly become a dredging up of painful childhood memories. Why?
This happens to my clients all the time. In one environment a client may see himself as a successful businessman, but one plane ticket back home and he reverts back to the fifteen year old boy scorned for wreaking the family car. When people are in present situations with people from past relationships they fall into a belief system that says, ‘This is who I am and how I act with this people group.’ They are back to being the powerless child desiring approval and validation. Each person in their environment is playing their roles, regardless of the years passed and a change in scripts. Often, old friends and family are the worst at accepting new roles, making it almost impossible to break free and hold true to new ways of defining self.
As a believer in Christ, it’s best in these circumstances to remember who you are now in contrast to the past. Remember, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come; The old has gone, the new is here!” -2 Corinthians 5:17
For more on how to overcome anxiety you can check out my book, Bible Therapy, written by my wife and me, now available as an E-book on Amazon. Click here to find out more.
Blessings, Pete
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