Color the stress away

There are times in life when you just need to sit down and color.

When I was a camp counselor, it became quite apparent that opening up a coloring book and taking part in an activity that most people think is only reserved for 7-year-olds is actually rather refreshing. In fact, I might call it therapeutic.

Life is full of so many things to cause us stress: work just keeps piling up, and you feel like you are sinking in quick sand; your bills seem to be increasing, while your salary is not; that guy hasn't asked you out yet; people keep asking you for favors, and you are reluctant to decline; Facebook is getting in the way of productivity (I'm joking—slightly); your e-mail inbox has too many new messages, and you really don't want to go through them anytime soon; so many people around you seem to be hopping on board the luck train, and unfortunate things keep happening to you; that guy still hasn't asked you out yet; you need to clean your home, but by the time you finally get time to do so, exhaustion wins in the battle of wills; your bones/joints/other body parts keep reminding you that you are aging by the second; and you have so many things going on that, even if you do have a planner to try to keep track of everything, you forget to remember to write it all down.

I guess to sum it all up: life happens.

The hardest part of all of this is not just reminding yourself that it's really all out of your hands—it's actually believing it and trusting that God will take care of you. With as many things as we "conquer" on our own (even though they are never on our own), it's not easy to feel so helpless in situations where we know we need someone else to bail us out.

When my classes start to drive me crazy, I sit on the floor. When life in general sends me to a state of pure frenzy, I color. There's just something about those non-toxic sticks of wax adorning well-known outlines on unique paper that clears my head and makes everything better. Perhaps it's because it takes me back to a time when the world was so carefree, and the biggest stress was when my parents made me come inside because it was getting dark out, and I had to leave that football game with the neighbors unfinished. The scariest part was the walk back to my house on summer nights—you never know when those stupid hoppers are going to jump out.

So, I guess coloring puts me in a past world and makes me forget that life has a tendency to spiral out-of-control. It allows you to be creative, yet also reminds you that there really are times when you can stay inside the lines and still maintain your sanity. Coloring is not just an activity for a child; rather, it's an activity that all adults should try at least once a week. I mean, your refrigerator will look so much prettier if you do.

I truly believe God gave us crayons and coloring books for a reason.

"Truly my soul finds rest in God; my salvation comes from Him.

Truly He is my rock and my salvation; He is my fortress; I will never be shaken."

-Psalm 62:1-2