8 Do’s and Don’ts To Remember During Your PMS Days
I want to ‘speak’ candidly with you today, my friend. Woman to woman. Heart to heart. While you and I may be true believers, we are still human, and are affected by physical ailments and conditions.
I’d like to tell you a little something about me… 🙂
I am a pleasant person to be around (please humour me, and read on 🙂 ).
For three weeks of the month!
For the remaining week of each month, I can be difficult, tend to be more negative, am easily irritated, at times frightened, and sometimes not very enjoyable to be around.
This is due to another one of those wonderful effects of the Fall of Man known as P.M.S. or Premenstrual Syndrome.
The Mayo Clinic estimates about 75 percent of women get at least some form of PMS.
You may suffer from this condition for one or two days each cycle, or a week as I have found I do recently.
Now, before I go on, I feel compelled to point out that there is no excuse for sin. My hormones, or my irritability, or my emotions are not to be used to excuse sin of any kind. I can’t say, “Oh, well, I have P.M.S. so God will understand if I lose my temper and snap at my son.” Or “I have P.M.S. so I can just give my negative emotions free reign and that’s O.K.” According to the Bible there is no excuse for sin (James 4:17, Ezekiel 18:20).
However, since we do live in a Fallen world and hormone fluctuations do affect our flesh in unkind ways, there are 8 do’s and don’ts to remember during your PMS days that I think would be helpful as you go through ‘that time of the month’:
Do’s
1. Do be in the Word of God
…Seeking God dependently for His help for each moment of the day/days ahead, being aware of your weakness and trusting in His strength to get you through this time with minimal ‘damage’ to those around you.
2. Do tell your husband
…That you are entering a time of potential difficulty physically and emotionally, and ask him to pray for you, give you grace, and be forgiving even if you blow it. I always tell my husband not to take the things I say over the next so many days personally. (Unfortunately at some stage during those days, I will land up insulting him and assuring him that even though I told him not to take anything personally – that this is an exception and that he totally should take it personally! :-))
3. Do make more of an effort
…To have a tidy home as extra clutter and disorganization around you can potentially make you feel more ‘out of control’ and upset than you need to be.
4. Do take time out.
Get out of the house on your own each day if you can, breathe deeply and wash your eyes with the beauty of nature. There is just something about being in God’s creation that helps us little humans put things into the right perspective.
Don’ts
1. Don’t make major life decisions.
Our relative instability during those PMS days at times causes us women to see things differently than we would when we’re experiencing ‘better’ days. It may not be the wisest period of time to make life-altering decisions.
2. Don’t let the sun go down on your anger (Ephesians 4:26).
It’s soooo easy to say things we don’t mean when we’re upset, or to be disrespectful in our irritability. Scripture clearly tells us that it’s okay to be angry, but that it’s not okay to sin when we are. Before the sun goes down (before you go to sleep at night), make sure to make things right with those whom you’ve wronged during the day, especially in anger.
3. Don’t believe everything you think.
During my PMS days, my thoughts seem to be more intense. I often think terrifying thoughts (especially at night) and imagine the worst tragedies happening to those I love. I have had to train myself not to believe everything I think during those days. Even if I do have difficult thoughts during the night, I remind myself that these scenarios will not happen and that in the morning they will seem foolish to me (and they always do!).
4. Don’t lose sight of what and who is important.
The people around you who will be most affected by your PMS are most probably your family; the very people you love the most on this earth. Remember that they are not to blame for your moods, nor have they been placed in your life to be the brunt of your annoyances. Keep in mind that these precious folks are the ones whom your heart adores, and that they are worth making the effort to ‘die to yourself’ and choosing to walk in the fruit of the Spirit rather than gratifying the desires of the flesh.
You and I are in this together, sister! Let’s not give in to the lie that it’s acceptable and ‘normal’ to let ourselves loose during our hormonal days. Rather, let us put some thoughts, systems, and beliefs in place before the ‘darker’ days hit that will ensure our husbands, children, friends, and supermarket tellers 🙂 are safe from our potential monthly wrath.
Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.
Philippians 4:8
I’m in, are you?
What other ideas do you have for do’s and don’ts while PMS’ing? Do you have a godly way to deal with your difficult days that you can share?
