Where do you get comfort?

We all get stressed or have bad days. I remember being at law school for a two-day competition. The first day started at 8 a.m. and I got out at around 9 p.m. I and the other students had spent all day on-edge, arguing or getting ready to argue. It was good, but it was draining. I was so tired and my brain felt cracked out. I drove away from the building and called my parents.

While talking to them, I drove through a Burger King and grabbed two large value meals and a Hershey’s sundae pie. I went home and ate all of it in one sitting, while watching TV. This was before I was into the Wendy's baconator, you see. Otherwise, that would have been the first choice. Baconators are SO good...I can't even...  

Anyway, during my first semester of law school, I munched whole bags of candy every day. I chuckled when I saw my first-year roommate doing the same thing. She shrieked, "I don't know what's happening to me! I don't even LIKE candy!" 

Food is not the only comforting thing. There is my iPod, as everyone who has ever seen me, anywhere, knows. I make lists of the things I need to do. I call my friends, my parents, or my sister and complain (sorry guys). I turn on the TV, go to a movie, or exercise. I go for long walks (I do that even when I'm not stressed). Sometimes I grab a beer at the Ale House with my peers. Very rarely, I will journal. If I’m really bummed, I jump in bed and just sleep. What's the first or most common thing you do to get to feeling good again when you hit a wall, stress-wise?

Some of those options I listed are healthy, good coping mechanisms; some are not great. Either way, I couldn’t help but notice that God doesn’t make the list a lot. Every time I have gone to God/prayer for comfort, it has been one of the last things I tried, not the first. Sometimes I receive it from God and it’s an accident. I happened to be in a bad place and then read or heard something at the perfect time, or visited church that week. It's great when that happens.

This year is going to be a challenge in both good and bad ways. Last night, my dad said, "You've got a lot on your plate right now, don't you." I went, "Uh, YEAH." I get to finish school, do a trial competition, study for the bar, take the bar, job hunt, move into the world of real adults, and go overseas. All of that would be enough to deal with, but regular personal life and social life stuff still exists too. I still want to finish learning German and keep up with singing. Don't worry; I can handle it. I do my best work under pressure. But I know I’m going to feel overwhelmed at some point.

When that happens, I want to remember to try God as the first option, because I think where you turn when you are in trouble helps reveal your main love and place of security. Also, I think going to God first can pull you out of emotional holes quicker. It’s going to be tempting to think I don’t have time or energy for spirituality, but I need to turn that around and make it the well from where I get energy. The baconator is good in the short-term, but long-term, it just makes me fat, tired, and greasy. In the most awesome way, but still. And that’s what I thought about this week.