Positive affirmations can help us cope with terrible situations

"Summing it all up, friends, I'd say you'll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true - the best not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse."

- Philippians 4:7 (Message)

When life's unexpected traumas betray your dreams, you feel surrounded in a whirlwind of thoughts, emotions and questions.

When I found myself housebound for eight years, it was hard facing a new day because mornings brought the dreadful thought, "how am I going to make it through another day."

If I managed to push that aside, along came thoughts badgering me about the absence of a weekly paycheck. I liked earning money, and had a well-paid position as a nurse manager. With one unexpected happening, all that was history.

Things were tight and the medical bills were mounting from all the doctors and treatments I'd tried. I wondered what we would do.

Those kinds of thoughts on a constant basis leave you drained of any emotional joy and peace. I couldn't stand the constant negativity bombarding my mind about what was missing from my life. I was desperate to silence this inner enemy.

Your mental devils might not be the same as mine. But I bet you've got a chorus of negative messages circling around inside your head these days.

One day I met my breaking point. After praying about it, I discovered many Bible passages about thinking and realized that maintaining our mental health is a spiritual battle fought in our mind.

In this modern day, we hear a lot about positive affirmations - statements we speak over and over to ourselves to get rid of negative myths we've built up in our minds.

In our life, we build up mental lies that only we perceive to be true. An affirmative word to ourselves can cancel out these lies and promote thoughts that are true.

You may wonder what this has to do with being shut-in. Affirmations don't change the reality of the situation, but do mean you recognize it and you can cope.

Now, while you are cooped up with your family and they are getting on your last nerve, you can remind yourself this too shall pass and bring some calm to the present moment.

There's scientific proof our minds don't know the difference between perceived fantasies and truth. When we watch a movie, we cry, laugh and respond according to our perceptions, even though it's not really happening.

The apostle Paul found it to be a true spiritual principle when he told his friends to think on positive things. The exhilarating discovery came down to the understanding that God meant affirmations to be a noteworthy evaluation of our thoughts, so we can enjoy our life.

Transforming my thoughts is one of the remedies that helped me cope while shut-in. And it's available to you, as well.

• Annettee Budzban is an author speaker, life coach and nurse. She can be contacted at annetteebudzban@aol.com or (847) 543-8413.