FOMO Can Take The Joy Out, Pt. 4

See part 3

We can take advantage of the fact that the brain is plastic to bring back our joy.

The Book of Romans says, “Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.” (Romans 12:2 NLT)

Changing the way we think is key to restoring joy.

FOMO is actually a very natural of thinking. By that I mean it’s one of the many ways we develop anxiety, which when unbridled leads to depression. Elsewhere I’ve talked about wisdom and coping skills, but it’s worth retreading. Since we are limited beings, we can only know a slice of anything at any one time. Only God can know all things, all data, all possibilities. Our inability to know beyond our little corner of the universe naturally develops FOMO in us because we desire to know more, control more, understand more than is possible for us. And when those desires go unfulfilled, anxiety results.

In the short run, this can manifest as something like gaming FOMO. But like I mentioned before, FOMO can manifest in other ways. These include our jobs (eg “Am I getting the best deals?”), our relationships (eg “Is Jessica the best for me?”), even ourselves (eg “Am I working out enough?”). Fear of missing out actually is in every part of our lives. It’s because of the inherent uncertainty of life. Yet there is a way to cope: acceptance.

Acceptance is a Way to Change How We Think

• Accept where you are, and work from there.
• Accept what’s already happened and let God turn it around for your good.
• Accept God does not work by RNG, but by wisdom.
• Accept His wisdom is better than anything the world around you could teach you.
• Accept His discipline; that is, what He has to teach you.
• Accept God knows the best outcome for you

Acceptance, then, is not giving up. It is controlling our reactions to the stimuli that attack us daily. It is making a set of responses rather than reactions. Responses take thought, which take knowledge. Knowledge produces understanding, understanding produces wisdom. And wisdom accepts that the beginning of everything is God, so respecting Him (aka “fearing Him”) gives us a peace that defuses FOMO, a peace we cannot even begin to understand, partly because there is no need to understand it.

We can change the brain’s pathways. Acceptance means giving God’s power the chance to cause that change. We accept that we are a bit, a piece, a component of the grand Creation. But we also accept we are an important part to Him; we carry His image, after all. So we then reason that since we are important to Him, yet we don’t know everything, and yet He does know everything, shouldn’t then it be logical that He’d plan things to eventually turn out well for us?

Like it says also in Romans:

“And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them. For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. And having chosen them, he called them to come to him. And having called them, he gave them right standing with himself. And having given them right standing, he gave them his glory.” (Romans‬ ‭8:28-30‬ ‭NLT‬‬)

Acceptance really is a form of change (relative to our current ways of thinking) that can help us stop FOMO, not to mention other anxieties. Accept the premises that He is God, He is good, He is in control, He makes our paths straight, and He loves us. Accept these thoughts, and you’ll change the way you think.

Just the fact that He loves me as I am changes the way I think of myself right now. It brings me some joy.

Kinda makes mobile games seem insignificant and unworthy of too much attention, huh?