To Cope

To Cope dan skognes motivation blogger speaker teacher trainer coach educatorEverywhere I look I see people trying to cope, yet so many seem to be going under despite their best efforts to stay afloat. Life for them is a roller coaster ride that they can’t escape.

To cope, you have to have hope. To have hope, you have to have something to believe in beyond your own capabilities. Hope is the anchor we have in the storms of life. It is what gives us a reason to go on despite how dark the horizon appears or how fearful we may feel inside.

People turn to many things to help them cope. Substance abuse masks the pain, but it always returns when the medication wears off. People turn to affairs or casual sex to fill the void of loneliness. Unfortunately, that does not cure the underlying problem. Compulsive buying or binge eating are also common problems that people use to try and cope. The problem is that you can’t buy peace and lasting happiness. Binge eating will just make you overweight and shorten your life.

Coping in a healthy way requires two things:

  • Faith your fears. Holding on to fear will kill your hope.

            Face Everything And Rise or Forget Everything And Run. It is your choice!

  • Quit worrying about things that are out of your control. What good does worrying do? None!

You may be familiar with the first stanza of The Serenity Prayer by Reinhold Niebuhr, but did you know there is a second stanza? Here is the full prayer:

God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.

Living one day at a time;
enjoying one moment at a time;
accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;
taking, as He did, this sinful world
as it is, not as I would have it;
trusting that He will make all things right
if I surrender to His Will;
that I may be reasonably happy in this life
and supremely happy with Him
forever in the next.
Amen.

That is how I cope and that is my hope.

Shalom!

Dan Skognes

9 Responses to “To Cope”

  1. Yes, may God give us the courage to change the things we can to make this world a little better.

    And yes, whether we worry or not time will still pass us by. So, I choose not to worry.

    Thank you for this post Dan.

  2. Almas says:

    Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase. Martin Luther King

  3. Almas says:

    Worry ends where faith begins.

  4. Cristina Andreescu says:

    Thank you Dan! Thank you all for your comments. In this moment it is exactly what I needed to go on. Shalom!

    • Dan Skognes says:

      Cristina, I appreciate the feedback. I know that sometimes my words hit a cord with people just when they need it. That is my prayer, that God use me to bring hope to a hopeless world. Shalom! Dan