Everyone feels stressed out, anxious or overwhelmed at some point in their college career. Some people feel it every week or even every day. Anxiety is a real clinical problem that is a result of our biology overreacting to stressful situations. If you feel like you may be clinically anxious or like your anxiety is unmanageable–seek help from a professional.
Anxiety itself is a spiritual problem and its solution is gifted when Christ offers himself in his wonderous mercy. By my spiritual father, I was told that many of Christ’s miraculous healings represent spiritual problems. The paralytic was rendered immobile by his physical sickness, spiritually, we can be rendered immobile by things like stress and anxiety.
Therefore, we must turn to Christ to help alleviate that spiritual anxiety. The Epistle of St. Paul in his letter to the Phillipians shines light on the antidote to that stress:
Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Finally, brothers and sisters, 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. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.
Phillipians 4 5:-9
St. Paul is instructing us not to worry! The antidote to anxiety is faith, and trust. We as people, hold a false understanding that we can control the things happening around us when we really can’t. What we actually need to do is to put our faith in God, and pray for the peace of the Holy Spirit. Christ has a plan for all of us, and we never can fully know what that path is! However, we can ask and we can receive guidance and peace if we pray for it humbly and respectfully.
It is incredibly difficult to fully put our faith in Christ. That requires a lot of effort and vulnerability. However, we can do some things to help alleviate stress. One of our best strategies to combat stress is to be prepared. When you’re prepared you’ll be assured that you have done your best in the situation and everything else is not something you can control. Another way is to find healthy ways to deal with stress like: working out, taking a hot shower, listening to music, or talking it out with a friend or family member. Just make sure that you do something healthy because stress is real.
College life is stressful. There’s so much pressure on us. But you can transform that stress and start your journey in acquiring the peace of the Holy Spirit!