Letters to Annie: Don't Let Your Problems Get You Down

Like Wonder Woman, Be Strong!

Dear Annie,

            I noticed that you’re having bad moods lately. Yes, problems come and go. I will see you soon okay and we going to talk about it face-to-face. Though we’re separate hundreds miles away, I try my best to be there when you need me. If not physically, then through phone calls. All of us face those occasional days when things don’t happened the way we want it to be or when relationships around us went through brokenness, arguments and pain. But, when we find ourselves overtaken by the frustrations of life, we must catch ourselves, take a deep breath, and lift our thoughts upward. A.W. Tozer wisely advise: “Keep your feet on the ground, but let your heart soar as high as it will. Refuse to be average or to surrender to the chill of your spiritual environment.”

            Although we must occasionally struggle to rise above the distractions and disappointments of tough times (or probably tough relationships), we need never struggle alone. We are for one another. Or better, God is here – eternally and faithfully, with infinite patience and love. “People who do what is right may have many problems, but the Lord will solve them all” (Psalm 34:19). And I believe our friends, family members, and maybe close colleagues are also willing to help us restore perspective and peace to our souls. “The first step in solving a problem,” write John Peter Flynn, “is to tell someone about it.” Our only action is to let them.

            Remember I told you to be optimistic about life? Well, I want to add to that. Be a realistic optimist. Your attitude toward the future will help create your future. So think realistically about yourself and your situation while making a conscious effort to focus on hopes, not fears; on self-growth, not stumbling blocks; on God’s sovereign power, not present problems. My Annie, don’t let your problems get you down!

Here are some of my favourite quotes that help to restore my perspective when I’m having difficult times. I hope it can help you too: “He who can’t endure the bad will not live to see the good” (Yiddish Proverbs); “The worst thing in your life may contain seeds of the best. When you can see crisis as an opportunity, your life becomes not easier, but more satisfying” (Joe Kogel); “Storms make trees take deeper roots” (Claude McDonald); “Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see the shadows” (Helen Keller); “The human capacity to fight back will always astonish doctors and philosophers. It seems, indeed, that there are no circumstances so bad and no obstacles so big that man cannot conquer them” (Jean Tetreau); “Every problem contains within itself the seeds of its own solution” (Edward Somers); etc. You can have all my quotation books when you marry me!

My love, this is a trustworthy saying: “Casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you” (1 Peter 5:7). Don’t let your problems get you down. Let God cares for you.

I miss you. You look prettier when you smile you know [laugh]!

I love you Annie.

Most genius and supportive boyfriend ever,

Richard

THINK BIG. START SMALL. GO DEEP.