What Helps Us Clean Out Our Mental Junk Drawers?

Beth Vogtacceptance, anxiety, brokenness, challenges, change, choices, crisis, emotions, encouragement, expectations, Faith, family, Fear, Friendship, grace, grief, hope, Life, listen, Love, mental health, perseverance, perspective, Reality, Relationships, Scripture, stress, suffering 12 Comments

  My friend Mary and I went for an early morning walk the other day. During our weekly walks, we take turns talking about life in an honest, here’s-what’s-going-on-with-me kind of way. Mary invited me to go first, so after discussing my latest ups and downs, I yielded the, um, sidewalk to Mary. As we neared the end of our …

What to Do When You’re Heavy-Hearted

Beth Vogtanxiety, brokenness, challenges, choices, emotions, encouragement, expectations, Faith, Fear, Friendship, grief, hope, Life, perseverance, perspective, Quotes, Scripture, strength, stress 10 Comments

@bethvogt I’ve heard the term “heavy-hearted” quite a bit recently. People are heavy-hearted about their life circumstances – from family struggles to friends’ setbacks. People are heavy-hearted about life “out there” – events playing out across the world via nonstop news headlines every single hour of the day. How do we counterbalance the ongoing challenges that weigh our hearts down? …

Don’t Believe Everything You Think

Beth Vogtanxiety, challenges, choices, emotions, encouragement, Faith, Fear, Friendship, grace, hope, Life, perseverance, perspective, Quotes, Scripture, Thoughts, trust 12 Comments

@bethvogt   I mulled over this blog post for quite a while. Started one topic. Erased it. I wanted to think of something funny. Something light. Put a spin on things so my words were encouraging from the get-go. But it was a bit of a fractured start to the week, one where I fought to find a good rhythm …

Choosing Not To Let Stress Run Our Lives

Beth Vogtanxiety, Beth K. Vogt, challenges, change, choices, emotions, gratitude, health, hope, Life, mental health, perseverance, perspective, Quotes, Reality, stress 10 Comments

@bethvogt I’ve been in an ongoing tug-of-war with stress … and right now stress is winning. I stared at that sentence and considered deleting it, one letter at a time. Choosing another topic for today’s blog. But I’ll go with the reality that, despite my best efforts to “Go placidly amid the noise and haste” … well, I’m not. I’m …

7 Quotes to Challenge Your Perspective on Life, Love, and Relationships (and a Giveaway)

Beth VogtAuthors, Beth K. Vogt, emotions, expectations, Faith, family, forgiveness, Friendship, hope, kindness, Life, Love, perspective, Quotes, Relationships, Romance, trust 8 Comments

@bethvogt   As I considered possible topics for today’s blog post, I decided to indulge my love of quotes and create graphics for you to enjoy. You’ll find quotes from some of my favorite authors, including two of my writing mentors — waving at you, Rachel Hauck and Susan May Warren. What are some of your favorite quotes about life, …

Choosing to Reset Our Thoughts When We’re Anxious

Beth Vogtanxiety, Beth K. Vogt, challenges, choices, courage, COVID-19, crisis, emotions, hope, Life, mental health, perseverance, perspective, Quotes, stress 10 Comments

@bethvogt I’m keeping today’s post straightforward. As I write these words, tallies are coming in for the 2020 U.S. presidential election. I have no idea what news tomorrow will bring — about the election or anything else I’m concerned about, for that matter. And I do have other things I’m worried about. I know a lot of people are anxious …

Choosing to Make Less Stress a Priority

Beth Vogtanxiety, Beth K. Vogt, challenges, change, choices, COVID-19, emotions, family, hope, Life, mental health, perseverance, perspective, Quotes, stress 14 Comments

@bethvogt I snapped a photo of a Good Housekeeping magazine article’s title – “15 No-Fail Stress Busters to Deal with This Year’s Chaos” – and texted it to my 3 daughters and one daughter-in-love. “I think I need every one on this list.” Ha Ha. They each responded with laughing emojis, but I’m certain they all felt the same way …

Choosing Not to be Afraid of the Dark

Beth Vogtanxiety, Beth K. Vogt, bravery, challenges, change, childhood, choices, courage, emotions, Faith, freedom, hope, Life, mental health, perseverance, perspective, Quotes 11 Comments

I was afraid of the dark when I was a child. Truth is, I was afraid of the dark when I was a 21-year-old newlywed. That was a bit of surprise to my husband. I had both real and imaginary reasons to be afraid of the dark.  Make believe monsters are scary enough. The real-life ones? Those are harder to …

Choosing to Ignore Others’ Negativity About You

Beth VogtBeth K. Vogt, challenges, choices, confidence, emotions, family, Friendship, Identity, Life, mental health, perspective, Quotes, Relationships 8 Comments

Have you ever been treated like someone’s personal fly paper? Not sure what I’m talking about? I can explain. Last week, my daughter, Christa, who is back at college, texted and said one of her friends wanted to “chat.” Anybody else see an instant red flag when a friend says, “Can we chat?” but gives no hint as to what …

Choosing to be Honest About Depression

Beth Vogtanxiety, Beth K. Vogt, brokenness, challenges, choices, emotions, health, hope, Life, perseverance, perspective, Quotes 29 Comments

@bethvogt   A few weeks ago, I applied for long term health insurance. After all the ups and downs we’ve had with my mother-in-law’s care, my husband, Rob, and I want to do as much as we can to ease things in the future for our adult children. Last week, the company denied my application. Okay then. Then the real …