Having and Solving

Scripture References: 1 Samuel 25:10-11; 2 Corinthians 1:8-9

The National Center for Health Statistics surveyed over 42,000 adults in 1991 and discovered that while depression was more common for women, men were more restless, and both felt equally bored and lonely. Almost forty million American adults frequently experience bad moods, three days out of ten being the average. Those most susceptible to foul moods are likely to be smokers. The moodiest men tend to be heavy drinkers. Two percent of people are cheerful nearly every day and 5 percent have bad moods on four of five days.

Given the violence in our society, research on moods is important since we seem to have an increasing inability to climb out of the black holes once we fall into them. Reacting productively to moods offers the challenge. Some effective tactics are to do something to solve the problem, bolster self-esteem, resolve to do better, and remind yourself that you are better off than others. Some people think that drinking or visiting with friends or eating sweets or taking drugs will dispel their somber thoughts. However, these are illusions pretending to be solutions. They leave us worse than they found us. Being alone is least helpful; it increases our sense of isolation and leads to more negation. Other least effective responses are watching television and movie shows, and, surprisingly, releasing the feelings by screaming, yelling, or crying.

Few methods work for the release of anger. What doesn’t work at all is to immediately respond to the offender. That will intensify, not reduce, anger. What works well is taking the other person’s place and seeing the situation from his or her perspective—but of course that is easier said than done.

Courtesy of Speaker’s Sourcebook of New Illustrations by Virgil Hurley © 1995 by Word, Incorporated.
Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV © 2011 by Biblica, Inc.®
Used by permission. All rights reserved.