One of my life goals is to put a stop to the hypertension in my life. The Lord showed me 3 things to accomplish this goal.

A recent incident at church stressed how important this is to me vividly:

I was on the run one Sunday, on my way to an event that a ministry that I lead was sponsoring.

As I walked fast on my way to the Fellowship Hall, another member stopped to greet me.

While I hugged her, my mind had already gone ahead to the event location and my need to get there to ensure that everything was set up properly.

My intention was to give her a quick hug and be on my way. But my dear Sister in Christ would not let me go.

She held onto me for another minute. When she released me finally, she looked at me with concern:

"Girl, you need to slow down! You are so tense. I can see it in your face…" then she touched my upper back, "…and I can feel it here. Please promise me that you will slow down, okay?"

What she said was sobering. I appreciated her caring. I hugged her again and promised her that I would indeed slow down.

That very night, I had a dream. It was short but very powerful.

The dream merely consisted of the word "Hypertension" spelled out in large letters, except that it was spelled as "Hyper-tension." When I woke up, the word "Hyper-tension" was still on my mind.

The Lord did not want me to live with Hyper-tension. The prefix “hyper” means “over” or “excess.”

Although the word is associated with the disease of high blood pressure, in its basic form means an excess of tension!

In my case, it happens that I have a strong history of the disease hypertension in my family. My great-grandmother and grandmother both had it. Both died of strokes. My mother has it.

And I received the genes for it as well. I have an excitable nervous system. It does not take much to get my heart pumping hard. When I was a child, I was shy and fearful. As an adult, I was consumed with worry.

So my body had become accustomed to living under tension.

However, I thank God that our genes are not the final word in the level of health that we have!

Click here to learn about 3 things I am doing to stop hypertension in my life.

Even if you don't have a formal diagnosis of hypertension, you will still learn some great tips about how to manage stress better.

Click here to learn about 3 things I am doing to stop hypertension in my life.