FACTS OF LIFE

Psalm 23

1The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
2He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.
3He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
4Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
5Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
6Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.


The first step toward healthy stress is to define the problem. The best definition of a problem is that a problem is something I can do something about. If I can’t do anything about it, it is not my problem. It doesn’t become my problem until I can do something about it. If I can’t do anything about it, it’s my fact of life. I have to constantly be able to recognize facts of life, accept them, live with them and not consider them problems. I can’t solve things that can’t be solved; therefore I don’t spend time thinking about them. (Fred Smith, ‘Dissecting Sense from Nonsense: Insights from a Layman’, p. 105)

Our “facts of life” are in the Shepherd’s hands.