Why Do I Feel Sickly?

Why Do I Feel Sickly?
Why does anxiety so adversely affect the body?
Why does my body bear the marks of abuse?
How can simple thoughts wrack my frame as they do?

“Anxiety quickly demoralizes the whole body,
and lays it open to the entrance of disease;
while impure thoughts, even if not physically indulged,
will sooner shatter the nervous system.”
– James Allen

The other day I was listening to the audiobook Practice of the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence. And at some point in the listening, I started to hear words I had never heard before.  I’ve read Lawrence’s book several times, but I never have read these words. It completely bumfuzzled me.  Either I am in a totally different place or something has happened.  Well, what happened was, As A Man Thinketh by James Allen was paired in the same book.  I just never listened to the very end, but how glad I am that I did.

Anxiety is Making Me Sickly

This is from the Allen book: The body is the servant of the mind. It obeys the operations of the mind, whether they be deliberately chosen or automatically expressed. At the bidding of unlawful thoughts the body sinks rapidly into disease and decay; at the command of glad and beautiful thoughts it becomes clothed with youthfulness and beauty. Disease and health, like circumstances, are rooted in thought. Sickly thoughts will express themselves through a sickly body.

I have stated in my posts that my anxiety had hulled me out like meth to an addict. My abuse of adrenaline has burned my body out. My question now is, how many of our diseases stem from anxiety?

Stress and Anxiety: A Killer

Oddly enough, Jennifer recently watched the documentary called Stress: Portrait of a Killer by National Geographic. In it I learned the answer to my question. What extended periods of stress and anxiety do is limit the natural function of the body. Adrenaline is a hormone that is intended for the honing of the body down to the bare necessities to survive when in danger. It is our natural crisis management system. So things like digestion, the immune system, and healing are put on hold to get us through a crisis. But when we live in this stress-filled, anxious place, our body suffers. Shutting down essential functions on a prolonged basis is a recipe for illness and injury.

My desire in sharing this is to express to those with this stronghold the urgency in dealing with it. It is a spiritual and physical crisis, one that I have personally faced.

Let be and be still, and know
(recognize and understand)
that I am God.
I will be exalted among the nations!
I will be exalted in the earth!
Psalm 46:10
Amplified Bible (AMP)