Episode 100. From Overwhelm to Thinking in a Higher and Holier Way

Listen on Audible | Listen on Spotify | Listen on iTunes

I don’t know if you have listened to episode one of the podcast, but my plan with my business was never to start my own podcast. However, God had different plans and by that point I had learned enough about following God’s plans over mine that I listened. Kind of a little begrudgingly if I am honest though. But at the time, I felt a strong pull to do a podcast that brought inspiration to women in small chunks of time. 

Over the past few months, I have been really praying to know what God wanted me to know about my podcast and He indicated a name change and refocus. I was led to the name LDS Mental Health Podcast to help women who are in need of these tools better be able to find this information. It also aligns more with who I am and what I do. 

Since the time of starting the podcast, I have noticed I love staying in the zone of teaching mental health through a spiritual lens. I love providing strategies that combine my two loves and point women to Christ. Mental health skills that point women to the ultimate healer and guide.  

As I have been teaching these concepts I have noticed a theme though, women are overwhelmed. Most women I talk to are overwhelmed for three big reasons and when women are overwhelmed, the other thing I have noticed is their thoughts become unclear, disconnected from God and draining. This is not a great place to be for long and can cause a lot of other problems in your life if you do. The place you want to be is thinking in a higher and holier way. 

I’ve noticed that since President Nelson became the prophet, he has been asking us to live in a higher and holier way. He first introduced it to us with ministering, then with the Come Follow Me curriculum, and now with the changes in For the Strength of Youth. I believe this higher and holier way also involves our thoughts.

Everything starts with a thought right? Even King Benjamin emphasizes in Mosiah 4:30 that we need to watch our thoughts because they become our words which become our actions. So, what if living in a higher and holier way started with thinking in a higher and holier way? It's important to really understanding which thoughts you are having that are disconnecting you from Christ and be able to defuse those thoughts. Doing so will help you return to Him and receive the power He needs to give you. 

The top 3 reasons I see women in overwhelm most frequently are relationship problems, their inner critic getting the best of them and lots of things on their plate. I want to go over each of these reasons and show you how you can start to think in a higher and holier way to decrease overwhelm in these areas.

 1. Relationship Problems

Anytime you have stress in a relationship it is going to affect you in many areas of your life. Which then leads to overwhelm. There are many relationships that can have problems and often women have more than one relationship in strain. But the one common denominator that makes the overwhelm worse in these situations is asserting what you think should happen in the relationship. I get it, sometimes you can see what needs to be done to move forward, but you are not the enforcer of agency. No one is, not even God. But when your thoughts are focused so much on what “should” happen with the individual then you are not able to think in a higher and holier way.

Thinking in a higher and holier way with relationship problems would be to show up as a vessel for the Savior. The Savior has atoned for everything you and others has ever experienced. The Savior is the ONE person who knows what is needed because He has already lived it. He has a greater perspective than you do. Becoming a vessel for the Savior is learning to receive that information from the Savior about what HE thinks should be done and conveying that information for Him and with Him. Not just telling the person what to do, but showing up in a way the Savior would show up with compassion, understanding and love. 

I know that is not easy to do. Especially if this person has hurt you or continues to hurt you. This is where learning mental health skills through a spiritual lens can help. Learning to identify your requirements about the situation and then defusing them so you can allow God’s will to be manifest through you. These are the exact skills I teach in my Removing Roadblock to Revelation Group Coaching Program. Your will and requirements about what you think should happen in the relationship are preventing you from receiving the revelation you need to heal this relationship. When you can receive God’s will you can have a clear view to think in a higher and holier way.

2. Inner Critic

Your inner critic can sometimes get the best of you. This is allowing negative thoughts keep you from feeling the peace God wants you to have.  Thoughts such as, feeling like you are not good enough, that you don’t measure up, or that you aren’t perfect enough. When these types of thoughts come it often feels like the floodgates of negative thoughts are wide open. You start thinking of all the times that prove these negative thoughts true. Then you start feeling defeated, drained and consumed. This type of internal overwhelm can also cause many other areas of your life to be affected.

When you believe this about yourself, you start isolating, getting frustrated with others, not acting on promptings, and stop taking care of yourself. This is all caused by a piece of the plan of salvation that is meant to be there, opposition. Remember, opposition occurs in all things including inside of you. This opposition inside of you is called the natural man. The natural man’s job is to convince you of the exact opposite thing God would tell you. If you are experiencing these thoughts and feelings, you are not broken. You are living in a fallen world where this will happen to everyone. The key is to not to allow the natural man to take over and stay in this state. 

The scriptures refer to this as putting off the natural man. Learning to put the natural man to sleep so you can reconnect with Christ and his enabling power. When you are in the natural man state, there is no amount of higher and holier thinking happening because God can’t influence the natural man. That is contrary to the plan of salvation. Learning mental health skills through a spiritual lens to put off the natural man is how you return to thinking in a higher and holier way. When you use these skills you begin to experience God’s love for you, the potential God sees in you, and the desire to emulate what God sees in you. THIS is the place where you can feel internal peace in the midst of chaos around you. Putting off the natural man is another skill you learn in my Removing Roadblocks to Revelation Group Coaching Program that helps you exit the state of overwhelm and think in a higher and holier way.

3. Too Many Tasks 

Most women I work with are inundated with too many things to be done in one day that they can’t even begin to check them all off their list. Which often leads to another action that creates more overwhelm, doing everything alone. I know this because I lived there for many years. Feeling so overwhelmed that I didn’t even think I had time to stop and ask for help because it would take more time. I missed out on so many opportunities for God to help me by doing this. 

The real higher and holier way to look at being overwhelmed with all the tasks in your day is to include God in helping you. A lot of women think in the realm of praying for big things for God to help them with, but have you ever thought to ask God to help you get your house cleaned? Or to ask God to help you plan your dinners for the week? Or to ask God to help you figure out this laundry situation? Receiving revelation from God with the little things is what allows you the power in the big things. Learning to ask God for help daily with the small things and receive God’s guidance on these situations saves you a ton of energy and time. This is also something I teach you in my Removing Roadblocks to Revelation Group Coaching Program.

The mental health skills I teach through a spiritual lens in this program help you think in a higher and holier way. This will help you calm your thoughts, defuse your triggering thoughts, interrupt that inner critic and build mental fortifications. Essentially defusing thoughts that disconnect you from Christ. They are mental health skills that point to Christ so you can access His enabling power and connect with a power beyond your own. I plan to open this program for the last time in 2023 in August. If you are ready to learn these skills so you can decrease your overwhelm and think in a higher and holier way, get on the waitlist so you don’t miss out when it opens up.