In 1988, Bobby McFerrin released the first single from his album Simple Pleasures (1988) - "Don't Worry, Be Happy." I was 20 years old and loved it! 

The song "Hakuna Matata" from the 1994 Disney animated film The Lion King was originally released on May 31, 1994

Pharrell Williams’ song “Happy,” was first released on July 2, 2013 with the Despicable Me soundtrack, and it was released as a single on November 21, 2013.

All of these songs about not worrying or being happy, and yet anxiety levels seem to be at an all-time high! 

It used to be said we were trying to keep up with the Joneses’. Now, we’re just trying to keep up. Things change so fast, and our minds and bodies hate to be out of control. 

I know firsthand. 

You see, I am not a worrier or stressor by nature (or maybe by nurture,) but last weekend I was off. Marla could tell. I felt an unfamiliar heaviness. 

“You know what it is, baby?” Marla asked. “You’re used to fixing everything and being in control of everything. You can’t fix this.”

I immediately felt some of the weight begin to lift!! She was right. The clouds began to part. 

We live in an out-of-control world. So much is going on at the same time. No wonder anxiety levels spike. 

So what do we do about it? How do we “fix” it?

Maybe we don’t. 

Maybe it’s not a fix, but a focus. 

Not a repair, but a replace. 

This week’s Christ Consciousness teaching from Matthew 6:25-34 will take this deeper, but here’s the thought we wrap up with from Philippians 4:6-9:

Prayer + Positive Thoughts + Practice = Peace

Pray: Release the anxious thought or situation. Talk it out with the intention of letting them flow away from you. 

Positive Thoughts: Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. (Phil 4:8)

Practice: Meditate, volunteer, go on a retreat, read, listen to music… in other words… movement. If we sit and let the anxiety swirl, then peace and happiness will be blocked. 

Watch or listen here.

The MEaning of Feelings

From birth, we have been absorbing information, trained, programmed, taught, and conditioned to think, feel, respond, and participate in a particular way.

Each person does this uniquely. Individually. It is the SELF. 

From SELF we form and operate in MEaning. 

MEaning is the value, weight, sensitivity, reaction, and more that I bring to my world, consciously or unconsciously. 

Someone says, “I love squash casserole!”  They have placed MEaning on it. 

Someone else (Paul Evans), “Squash casserole is the worst!!” I have placed MEaning on it.

Now, let’s get more personal than squash. 

Someone says something that hurts your feelings. Who is at fault?

“That person, of course, said it!! And it hurt!”

It only hurt because you gave the words their MEaning. Then, you held the feeling with MEaning. Then, you created a narrative about the person with MEaning. Possibly, you called a group of friends to tell them what that MEant to you. 

MEanwhile, another person may have been completely unaffected. 

In this video, we talk about MEaning and how it relates to…

• Why we get hurt and take things personally

• How to let hurtful things go quicker

• How long should I waller in my hurt

• 3 ways to become more MEaningless,.get hurt by others or situations less, and take things less personally.

Click here to watch

Blessings!

Paul

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