Depression： The Science, the Scriptures and the Path to Life — Dean Taylor

Depression, Emotions, and the Gas Chamber Analogy

One of the the craziest things I ever was a part of is that when you join the army There's they they do this really I don't they still do this. But you do this crazy thing in basic training you the test so that you can understand chemical warfare they have you go into this gas chamber with a gas mask on and They put tear gas in there and so then you're in there and you're supposed to you'll start to feel like the leaks of your mask and everything and you start to feel your skin burning and then all of a sudden they say now take your mask off and you're supposed to take your mask off and then experience this this what it feels like to have this attack of a chemical warfare and It's terrible and I remember suddenly I couldn't breathe and I tell you not to try to hold your breath and and And you know don't gas because then you take this huge breath.

But who can stop it because it's burning and everything and and finally you know I'm starting to take small breaths and I realized I cannot breathe. So then they tell you to jump, you know. Do some jumping jacks and get down in push-ups because I'm trying to make sure everybody's breathing and everything and I'm thinking okay I This is affecting me more than anybody else.

I'm going to die and And there's no way human beings would do this to someone else on purpose. It's risk. I what I'm feeling is much worse than what anybody could possibly be feeling. And and then I see you know as I'm crying I'm trying to make it over to the drill sergeant to Beg my way out of the gas chamber and try to save my social security number.

I'm looking over and I'm realizing wait. Everybody's dying. And so it made me feel a little better. And so finally let me out and and it was a terrible terrible experience. I wouldn't I wouldn't recommend it.

Sharing Emotional Struggles Honestly

So Here's I'm going to talk today about feelings. I'm going to talk about depression and The thing that I bring in this analogy with is that it's good for us to realize we all feel. We all have these emotions that that the more we're honest about it The more we're open about these things will realize that we're not the only ones dying in the in the middle of the gas chamber.

If you recall it's been a while because I've been on the road in different things I'm doing a sermon series on the place of emotions in the spiritual life and the last message that I did was on religious affection and enthusiasm and we talked about the revivalism and the different the different feelings that God gives us in worship and praise and I thought one of the best quotes from that was from Jonathan Edwards when he's when he was talking about the balance of emotions in worship and emotions and things and he says Jonathan Edwards put it in his very good book called the religious affections.

He says there are false emotions and there are true. Because a person is very emotional does not prove that he has any true spirituality any true religion. But if he has no emotions it proves he has no true religion.

I think that's a really good balance statement there. Yeah, just because somebody can be you know saying they have all these emotions doesn't promise anything. But if you're real and you're not feeling I it's hard to imagine that it's real.

The Science of Depression and Chemical Imbalances

Well today the name of this message is Depression the science the scriptures and the path to life. I Kept going back and forth and just calling it feelings the science of scriptures in the path of life because it's not just negative feelings I want to talk about today, but it seems like most of us.

It's we're wanting to know where do we categorize those blue feelings that we have and So I thought I'd just name it there's gonna be some positive emotions too, but depression the Science the scripture and the path to life.

I'm gonna be looking at the different parts of this the science of it and then I'm gonna be looking some of the chemicals and different things like that the scriptural and then how we make changes positive changes and Practical things in each of these categories that I'm going to try to break down into so first let's talk about the science of depression or the science of Emotions the science of feelings now.

I was doing some research in this. There's there's you know There's camps in this this whole thing and some people are very against the idea that chemicals in any way affect us. I found some quotes here ones by a big homeschool advocate voti Bachman I mean y 'all heard of him and he says most Christians don't know that there is no such thing as chemical imbalance.

Okay, and then John MacArthur has a Very strong statement and he says puts it this way The stampede to embrace the doctrine of secular psychology May be the most serious threat to the life of the church today these doctrines are a mass of human ideas that Satan has placed in the church as Though they were powerful life-changing truths from God.

Most psychologists epitomized Neo-Gnosticism claiming to have secret knowledge for solving people's real problem. Some of them even claim to perform a therapeutic technique. They call Christian counseling when in reality They are using secular theory with biblical references tacked on to treat spiritual problems.

It comes very strong in both of these and many other particularly from the fundamentalist camps. Wanted to say that there's no Chemical things going on and that the modern psychology that's coming against the church is is often and here's the thing we would agree with a lot of those concerns particularly and I really want to stress particularly the Idea that the answers are outside of the Bible that that that we have to rely on Science and everything just to understands ourself and and I think that that we would we would agree with them.

That the Word of God and that when we do counseling we come from the the Word of God and from Scripture that being said. To ignore that there's chemicals that are that God has used in these things to ignore these things Is also a mistake a few years ago many years ago.

Actually, I caught a flu a bad flu and I ended up with a paralyzed vocal cord for six months. I had zero voice I mean not even a whisper. I could I could hardly drink because my my my vocal cord was completely paralyzed.

I worked with one of the the ENT doctors that I worked with him in surgery and anesthesia and and as I met with him after first just thinking Oh, I'm gonna get over this and finally, you know and realize this is getting worse and worse and by the time I made it To him.

He took a scope and looked down there. He says your vocal cords paralyzed and I said well, you know. Whisper it out, you know, I'm a preacher and he knew from our conversations during surgeries. I said well lay it to me.

How is it? He says it's 50 -50. It's you could either just start getting your your we're gonna give you a bunch of steroids. You could get your vocal cords back if the nerve damage isn't too bad. Or you could spend the rest of your life with the paralyzed vocal cord and I said, wow.

So I started cranking this the steroid that he gave me and let me tell you there's something to Emotions and chemicals. I mean I was really moody and I thought if this is what it feels like to have a chemical imbalance I suddenly have a lot of pity on people who go through these things you think of postpartum depression.

You think of different things that obviously a lot of chemical stuff is happening. How dare we ever say that chemicals are not affecting as I was very moody. That's Tanya. So, you know that being said I'm concerned I am very concerned that as we begin to explain the mind and the heart and things that we do so.

Apart from God we we do this in history, too. There's a there's a term called methodological atheism. Methodological atheism is where we give our method we present our method of history or method of science or a method of whatever.

Totally void from God and many times Christians that are in the academic world will try to do these things to kind of Speak the language of academia, but we we do that to our detriment when we leave out God.

We are created by God history has been governed by God and any form of methodological Atheism that describes the human phenomena that describes history without God is wrong. Also the other side of that I've I've experienced things and there's some things I can't explain with science.

There's been even cases that in my years of doing anesthesia and working in a secular hospital with secular people. That there's been some things that go there through there that even those people they would come to me and say Dean.

That guy or that girl has to be demon possessed so these are totally secular people and some of the things that were just Could not understand. I never forget once there was an anesthesiologist me. He'd come running to me after She had an interview with a patient.

It was a lady had a lot of strange manifestations and she went to do the interview. He was in there talking to her about 20 minutes and he came back sort of white-faced and he said I Think there's something weird going on in that room.

And I said what he said my watch stopped the entire time I was talking to this lady that I went in and and the entire time I was there the watch stopped and everything She said was strange and I never met the lady or did I in a different case?

And there was different people who have said things and I and I agree. There's things that I think today when we look back on the scriptures and we look back on The demon-possessed people and the spiritual things it is too easy.

To just put a scientific explanation on things and say that there are demon-possessed people or or things aren't like that so I don't when I began to get into the science of this and look at the different chemicals and the different ways that I Think that God is using I don't want to go too far.

I I do think there are things that science cannot explain. I do feel that those are those are part of it. But when I look at science when I come through and I and I see things even scientifically for me and my experience is it Usually I try it lifts me up to even worshiping God more.

I've said Because we understand the paintbrush of God. When we look at to understand the flickering of the northern lights or a beautiful sunrise, you know. If you look at a gorgeous sunrise, you know, there's that little scientific voice in the back of your head that says it's just dust particles.

You know. It's just dust particles or something like that or the or the northern lights and we have the scientific Understanding if we allow ourselves not to be wowed by God's presence. Even though we might know some ways that he uses different practical things.

I think we hurt ourselves. God is an awesome God in nature and alive and through everything we do and because now we have some sort of Scientific explanation of his paintbrushes. It doesn't make it any less true or any less amazing or any less Magnificent as we ponder these things.

Science, Wonder, and God's Creation

Maybe I'm using it out of context, but there's a passage I like to take comfort in and mixing this science with the amazing things of God is Psalms 1815. You can tell me if you think I'm taking it out of context, but I read it once and it hit me it says the channels of the water were seen and The foundations of the world were discovered at thy rebuke Oh Lord at the blast of the breath of thy nostrils.

Now it either means that he's just blasting it and we're seeing the foundations of something very magnificent. But I wondered in this could there be something that in his rebuke? He lets us know some of the ways of the operations of science or something like this.

I don't know. So as we look at these things I also think through my my life and my pastoral experiences my time with people and I'll tell you this there are some things that have been very Difficult and some very insensitive things have been said and when you talk about a subject like this it's usually we're involving very vulnerable people or more so we're involving very vulnerable parts of ourselves of Of how we feel and and and I'll tell you there's been very difficult cases and and when I've gone through that There's been some insensitive things that I think is radical churches.

We have to be very careful about. What I've noticed is that many hard cases some of those really hard cases of people that have gone through a lot. You kind of want them just to leave and that's really really wrong.

You kind of just hope oh So and so is gone now and yeah, he's going to that funny counseling system. And the what makes the most insult to injury is that often I have found amongst us radicals that oftentimes We can't help somebody so they go somebody where they're trying to get help and then they get and then we heap Insults on them of they're going to this place.

That's that's getting the help and I I we just have to be careful. It's hard and many of these cases are difficult and our spirit when we're dealing with some of these hard things Should be always pastoral a passage that really rebuked me years ago.

It's from Jeremiah 23 1 it's a very strong rebuke to pastors that of something that's hidden hidden and when you're dealing with difficult cases and Jeremiah the rebuke in Jeremiah 23 1 says Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture saith the Lord.

Therefore thus saith the Lord God of Israel against the pastors that feed my people. These are the people that should be given the spiritual food. You have scattered my flock and driven them away. And here's the part that got me and have not visited them.

Behold I will visit upon you the evil of your doing saith the Lord and I will gather a remnant of my flock out of all countries whether I have driven them and will bring them again to their fold and they shall be fruitful in an increase and I will set up shepherds over them that shall feed them and They shall fear no more nor be dismayed neither shall they be lacking saith the Lord.

I felt very rebuked that there was a lot of people that I was just glad they're no longer here. And I haven't visited them. I haven't searched after them and that spirit within me has to be fought. It's natural.

It's a lot of work. It's the 80 -20 law or maybe the 90 -10 law where 10 of the people are taking up 90 of your time. And we have to be careful that God has created every one of us. Beautifully and wonderfully made and as we look into some of these things, it's hard.

It's difficult. But we have to be very careful about God's rebukes here. Now as we look at some of these different I'm gonna give up the typical chemicals that affect our moods and everything. Let me give you a little warning.

All of us are affected in every one of these. I mean when you start looking at it's you know These different abnormal behaviors, you know that the tendency is to go. That's me. And so I remember when when I was in taking abnormal abnormal psychology Tonya and I were taking abnormal psychology in college and the professor warned us now when you take this I'm warning you that you're kind of kind of relate to all the conditions and so that can happen sometimes.

So be careful. Yeah Tonya and I were like total basket cases by the time we ended Abnormal psych because we had we had we had filled ourself up with every one of the conditions. Oh, yeah, that's me. That's me.

Oh, that's me. Oh, that's me. And so we have to be careful, but the good part is this is like the gas mask. Realize these are things that all of us are going through now to say that one more disclaimer.

I am NOT against medicines. I am NOT against it. I have seen it that is used at a time when when people need help and I've seen people do it Responsibly and I've seen people do it. And they get to a place where they need those kind of things and I'm not against it.

And so I recognize these chemical things. But in this I think there are some areas that we can make little goals and little ways to advance. That we can look at the Word of God and see how we can get out of some of these ditches that we all of Us get ourselves into but just want to make some those very important disclaimers as we get to it.

Four Neurotransmitters and the Formation of Habits

So let's look at the science the pastoral and the change now the science. I am a funny artist, but I'm going to try to draw up a brain here if I can. Maybe I should get one of our students, but Okay, so as we look at there's there's a there's four Positive Neurotransmitters that affect our mood we have dopamine we have serotonin.

We have oxytocin and we have general endorphins and they affect an area of the brain down here and Some channels up here and these these different are we're going to talk about each one of these dopamine serotonin Oxytocin and endorphin as How these chemicals affect the brain now, I'll say from the beginning.

It's sort of an oversimplification they mix and there's different parts and humans. We're all very complex. So these are oversimplifications, but they bring some some nice Some discussions on how to look at some different categories of things we all go through there's also something else that's very good to know and.

And you're looking in your brain you're filled with just Millions and millions of these little connections. They call them synapses these little firing Charges and every one of those millions and millions, you know, basically break down into this little area where there is Those little risks like the dopamine in here coming out of This side and then being caught by this side now.

The way things typically work is you can either increase the amount of this coming out. You can somehow get it squirted directly synthetic into this area in between or you can somehow get it Lasting longer on this little receptor and all those will bring the next synapse down the way.

And so all these all these different dopamine serotonin oxytocin and endorphin. Work more or less oversimplified in something like this that can that can affect us and so. Now so here's the thing. So this is this is scientific people.

It's it's you know, everything from positive thinking people to psychiatrists to doctors. Simon Sinek talks about this. Different psychiatrists use this thing. It's it's an obvious and oversimplification, but it's obvious.

These things are happening scientifically. But here's the first thing that I I want to bring out to you. You know when we find ourselves hurting. When we find ourselves Pathological, you know, you're dangerously hurting you're you're in a ditch.

You're you're I'm not not doing well. You know, what do you do about it at that time? And although it's it's very clear that if you have a deficiency, you know. And in this hormone or or if you're going through something you have it is gonna cause you to feel really bad.

This has been scientifically proven. But how do you fix that? How are you gonna walk through that is the the question and I think that there are some things That both from a scriptural side and people give for.

Encouraging people to get out of habits as helps us to look at these things and here's one thing to keep in mind. When you make a path so you have all these different paths going through here, you know, just literally millions and millions I don't know if any do you know how many synapses do you have?

It's actually in the trillions, okay, and it's really is and so you're making Pathways all the time you're making you know, instead of just finding your way from here to here. You know, you're finally getting familiar places and there's a saying that says neurons that fire together wire together and you begin to make habits and Pathways that are that are like habits of thinking and so as we get into different things of our life different things start to affect us and we begin to make habits and There's ways that we can respond to that.

Humility, Endurance, Asking, and Responding

Now if you go to the doctor and the doctor says that you have high blood pressure. There's different reasons that you can have high blood pressure. You can just have some sort of genetic thing that's going on.

It could be because you're overweight. It could be from several different reasons. But the the the the response could be then is what are you going to do about it? If it was because I'm if it's because I've got some sort of genetic thing and if my mother had high blood pressure now I just suddenly have high blood pressure.

There's not a lot I can do. But if the truth is it's because I'm overweight. There's maybe some things that I can do and so I'm going to look at some of these cases that we as we break it Down is maybe there's some things that we can do that can make things differently.

And so instead of just quickly Responding to the pathological that maybe I could lose some weight. Maybe there's some things that could help me so I started to think looking at the scriptures and I went through the scriptures that looked at Being down and that and I came up with a little acronym that I think will try to help Here and it's the one it's the word here.

So you're going through a hard time. You're wanting to hear from God. And so I have this acronym here H. Okay, and so the first one is to humble yourself. The next one is to endure the next one is to ask and Then the last one is to respond and I'm going to go through these as way I saw them in the scripture.

So let's look at some of the scriptures turn your Bible to first Peter five six seven. Humble endure ask and respond here going through a hard time. I want to hear. I want to hear from God. What am I going through?

Let's look at some of the scriptures. In first Peter five six and seven therefore humble yourselves. Under the mighty hand of God that he may exalt you in due time. Casting all your care upon him for he cares for you.

See what you have here in the scripture. The one thing we don't want to do is it just say everything's just my chemicals it could be that God is trying to get your attention and God gave us emotions. He gave us feelings.

He gave us hearts to feel and hear and understand God. So the first thing your first response should be Humble yourself in the sight of God but then endure. If you've passed this state with your clean conscience endure.

If there's anything I can give to you out of my 53 years of experience. Lot of that's all old. I am it is is Is. Is it wait? Many times this hard thing that you're going through is a time thing and there's a cycle if you can endure it and you can.

Wait, there'll be joy in the morning. He says and he will exalt you in due time. Casting your care upon him and he cares for you. Look for another one. I have here in Psalm 30. It brings up these sort of things and I'll get more to this asking and responding that one hit didn't hit the ass.

But then the respond is to put your care on him. I've humbled myself in the sight of the Lord. Okay, Lord, is there something you're trying to tell me? I'm enduring realizing. Okay. I'm still feeling really bad God.

But I'm realizing this is a time in in due time. I'm gonna feel better. I'm gonna get to the asking. Then the next one is responding. I'm gonna actively cast my care on you and wait for you, but look at Psalm 30 verse 4.

Psalm 30 verse 4. Sing unto the Lord. Oh ye saints of his and give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness. For his anger endures but a moment in his favor is life. Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning again another one that really just talks about This time and I'm telling you.

Are you feeling tempted to sin? Are you feeling I can't stand this bad yucky feeling anymore. That he's telling us it is a cycle that something that that God is it can help us through this. My next message is actually going to be on spiritual anguish and and and and how this is actually a spiritual thing.

Speaking Aloud and Preaching to Yourself

We're not made to feel great all the time. Now I'd like to do the ones that really bring out this idea of an asking or announcing is another a Look at Psalm 32 3 through 5. Psalm 32 is a really important one.

Turn to this one. Psalm 32. David Was an emotional guy, right? He was an emotional guy and I think that's why God really liked his honesty and his raw Ability to be just so real. And listen to now. Psalm 32 3 through 5.

So here you are. You're going through a hard time like David was. And he says this when I kept silent. My bones grew old through my groanings all the day long. For day and night your hand was heavy upon me.

My vitality was turned into drought of summer. Sela and he keeps going. I Acknowledged my sin to you and my iniquity. I have not hidden. I said I will confess my transgression to the Lord and you forgave the iniquity of my sin.

So here's the thing that the point that he's bringing out here. Is it when he was silent? He he was rottenness to him. But when he began to speak when he began to praise and when he began to to David like talks.

Preaches to himself. It's one of the incredible things about David. He's preaches to himself. Why are you thinking this way? Why are you being downcast? Why are you acting this way? Is something that he does and so this this ask?

Announce or another a is announced is to literally to say and to speak out about what you're going through to God and to yourself. Psalm 42 5 is another one really strong with the same thought. Psalm 42 5.

Anyone ever gone through a hard time try David's response here. Psalm 42 5. Listen to the way David talks to himself. Why are you cast down? Oh my soul. And why are you? Disquieted within me. Hope in God.

For I shall yet praise him for he is for the help of his countenance. That's the the idea. So here the idea of realizing you're going through a really hard time. You're you're experiencing this thing speak literally speak those things to yourself now, there's a difference between Talking to some weird mystery language and trying to preach to yourself and what I mean is mystery lane.

Okay, so obviously there's there's if you're talking to some kind of voice that's out there. That's pathological. That's maybe demonic or something. That's not what I'm talking about at all. But what we do see in David is him rebuking himself literally out loud correcting himself.

Talking and reminding himself that the way he is feeling is not rational. It's not right and he says why are you cast down? So maybe the next time we're depressed. Maybe the next time we're going through a hard time Dean.

Why are you cast down? Why are you getting so lethargic? Why are you not doing that? He would literally say something out loud. I found an interesting quote by Martin Lloyd-jones on this very thing. Martin Lloyd-jones says this he says yourself is talking to you.

Now the man's treatment in Psalm 42 what we just read was this instead of allowing the self to talk to him. He starts talking to himself. Why are thou cast down? Oh my soul. He asked his soul had been Repressing him crushing him.

So he stands up and says self. Listen for a moment. I will speak to you. Do you know what I mean now Lloyd's? Preaching and he's saying do you know what I mean? If you do not then you have but little experience.

The main art and the matter of spiritual living is to know how to handle you. Yourself you have to take yourself in hand and you have to address yourself preach to yourself. Question yourself you must say to your soul.

Why art thou cast down? What business have you to be disquieted you must turn on yourself? This is Lloyd-jones abrade yourself condemn yourself exhort yourself and say to yourself this. Hope thou in God.

Instead of murmuring and muttering in this depressed unhappy way and then you must go on to remind yourself of God. Who God is and what God is and what God has done and what God has pledged himself to do.

That's how we deal with ourself going through this hard time. Speaking very specifically. Realizing I'm not where I should be now. This is not listening to the voice of the accuser. We do have to realize that we know that Satan is a roaring lion and he continually Accuses us and says you're no good.

You can't do it. You know, you're a sinner. You know, this is wrong and his job is to continually rebuke you that way. Revelation 12 9 through 11 Says it beautifully and this is such a great day. So the great dragon was cast out that serpent of old called the devil and Satan who deceives the whole world.

He was cast to the earth and his angels were cast out with him. Hallelujah. Then I heard the loud voice saying in heaven now Salvation and strength and the kingdom of our God and the power of his Christ has come for this reason.

For the accuser of our brethren who accuses them before our God day and Night has been cast down and they overcame him. How? By the what. By the blood of the Lamb and what else. And the word of their testimony.

So this accusing voice that's coming to you this accusing thing. Asking announcing speaking out loud is what David's technique was. There is is saying and the word of their testimony and they love not their lives to the death powerful stuff here.

Dopamine and the Narrow Way

Humble yourself before the Lord. Endure this comes in cycles. We can endure those things announce or ask speak out loud and respond respond. Let's look for a minute. It just some of those those chemicals and how they affect us and how we can make little steps to use these chemicals.

That God has given us. They weren't given us to defeat us. They were given to us to to be triumphant and to be to be victorious. They get out of whack sometimes I admit that. But look at this. So the one of the first one we look at and one of the most powerful ones the ones that make a lot of media.

Is the one of dopamine dopamine? Dopamine motivates us to a reward and or to take action to get the reward. It's the surge you get when you find your keys. When you have finally fulfilled something when you get that parking spot or Those kind of things it's it's something you get this little surge of dopamine and You feel good and it's trying to get you to continue to go on your goal to keep going and to keep fighting and to.

And to keep your goal going if we live continually in this Flooding of dopamine you'd finally wear out, but it's trying to encourage you to reach your goal. It's interesting I found that studies have been proven on animals and they show they have low levels of dopamine that these animals always Opted an easier option, so if they had a goal where they knew this way would give them more food.

But they had to go around there and around there and there or just go over here with low level of dopamines. They always take the easier route. And so there's something that God has given us in this beautiful and fearfully made wonderful hormone.

That gets us the ability to to know I'm gonna take the hard route, so I call this the narrow way hormone. The narrow way hormone and look at the way Jesus talks about enduring the narrow way in Matthew 7 13 he says Enter the narrow gate.

That hurts. There's a great martyrs mirror quote that says the martyrs Entered the gate so straight that they left their skin on the post. It's an awesome quote Enter the narrow gate for why did the gate and brought us the way that leads to destruction and there are many who go by it because narrow is the gate.

Watch this now and Difficult is the way Which leads to life and there are few that find it not only does this have eternal consequences? It has consequences in life. Do you want to live? Do you want a life and so he's having us to endure these things and to go and realize this?

I'm gonna have to deal with this this this hard feeling. I'm gonna have to deal with this and set some goals that are gonna make us towards learning how to take this this this right step. The thing with this dopamine is that it's addictive.

And and without the dopamine we have this angst. It's the narrow way it hurts. And I'm feeling like I need a hit and to get that hit to mask that hard feeling. We tend to do things that are destructive.

We drink alcohol. We go gambling it gives that thrill we get on our cell phone. We we we feel we try to have a little goal and something that's that's petty. And we're always looking at this kind of a thing that that's hurting us and this is not healthy and so even secular people tell us and particularly in the scripture here that tells us that we Needing to know how to understand how the dopamine works is to set goals that are achievable.

Smaller goals so and so you when you have those little goals you have a little celebration. I finished a test and I did good on it. I did my paper or I I Finally got my homeschool Portfolio done with my children.

I I cooked a nice cake and take a moment of celebration in those times and say yeah I accomplished that and those are healthy ways for us to to work within this beautiful hormone that God gave us and and it creates ways now if You know you have bad habits, I know I'm on the cell phone too much.

I know I'm on the on the rat that's going and taking the easy thing and I know I'm needed to take the hard thing. Here's the trick. It's gonna hurt and scientists say it's gonna hurt for like 45 to 50 days.

It's gonna hurt. But if you continue to train yourself and going and using this this goal the right way it Creates these these pathways that are good behavior and suddenly that starts to feel better. Let me ask you students that are here.

I You can clearly see a look on your face between second semester and first semester. I mean, it's just so obvious and it's like when I usually ask you you notice how many people you'll ask. Well, was it a lot?

Is it a lot easier and what does most every one of you ask when I ask you is it easier you say what? It's not really easier. It's the most common answer. Time management. How many times do you hear that?