My Happy Dress

My latest "Happy Dress".

Do you have a "happy" dress? A "lucky" shirt? Something beautiful, comforting or familiar that you wear, that changes your whole mood? The picture above is me in my latest happy dress. Whenever I wear it, I feel instantly better. I love how it feels against my skin and flows as I walk. I love that it carries sweet memories of the happy occasions I've worn it to. Even the colors and flowers are soothing. Sometimes, as a thought-shifting exercise, I put it on and practice choosing the feeling of joy.

My "Happy" Anniversary dress from years ago.

As I was being healed of bipolar and borderline personality disorders, the Holy Spirit would teach me how to bring my thoughts captive to Christ (2 Cor 10:5) and through obedience, shift my mood. Isaiah 61:3 talks about putting on the garment of praise instead of the spirit of heaviness. Just like changing my clothes, I learned that I could exchange a heavy/discouraged mindset for a lighter, life-giving one; through worship.

I learned this one day, when I was late for a meeting and got stuck in traffic. Immediately, I felt anxious and discouraged. I remembered this praise/exchange verse. "Could it really be that easy?", I thought. I decided to obey and began to speak true things about God. I spoke out loud of His goodness, power and mercy. I began to thank Him specifically for blessings He had sent me, old and new. I realized that fear - the lie against God's goodness - was distracting me from the unchanging truth about God, who always loves me. Instantly, I felt "covered". Amazingly, I found that my brain could not focus on being discouraged and worshipping at the same time. Either, God was present with me, loving me in the middle of traffic, working everything out for my good - or He wasn't. My decision to believe the truth and give my faith a voice, in the expression of worship; set me free. I felt peace again and empowered because I realized I could make this exchange happen, anytime, anywhere.

Worship is a heart, soul, mind and body activity that has the power to bring alignment and order back. We were created and designed for it. Our hearts get turned in the direction of our loving Father. Our minds become focused on words, sounds and speech. Our souls are connected through thanksgiving and recalling blessings. Our bodies operate in agreement and express our belief. When we choose to "put on praise", we are blessing God and healing ourselves. We can actually sing songs of deliverance (Ps 32:7) and bring ourselves back to what we already know, but temporarily forget - God is always and only, good.

May you learn to put on praise today, in Jesus' Name.

Sound Mind Awareness Veronica Jimenez ©2019 All rights reserved.