Stop worrying about it!

This is an adaptation of Bob Gass’s Stop worrying about it!

Worry.

It starts with a distressing thought, soon followed by more upsetting or irritating thoughts.

And before you know it there is a storm brewing in your mind, making you think irrationally and zapping your mental and physical energy. Then fear set in. We must activiely resist the pressure to submit to fear, because fear is the first step to failure. Fear gives you a distorted view of reality.

Author John Mason wrote, “I couldn’t feel at peace.  Unless I had everything figured out, I became anxious, restless, nervous, worried, and grouchy…similar to a drug addict who needs a fix. The severity wasn’t the same but the symptoms were.  I supposedly walk by faith, but yet in most areas I trusted myself.”

Are you living that way?

Have faith in God. FAITH is the antidote to FEAR as rightly espoused by Akachukwu Eze in a recent message.

Inspirational author William Ward wrote, “Worry is faith in the negative, trust in the unpleasant, assurance of disaster, and belief in defeat.  It’s a magnet that attracts negative conditions.  Faith is a more powerful force that creates positive circumstances.  Worry is wasting today’s time, and cluttering up tomorrow’s opportunities with yesterday’s troubles.”

When an old man was asked what had robbed him of joy in his life, he replied, “Things that never happened.”

Do you remember the things you worried about a year ago?

Didn’t you expend a lot of energy on them? And didn’t most of them turn out to be fine after all?  Almost 99 per cent of the things we worry about DO NOT happen.

Stop trying to control every possible outcome.  Life goes better when you decide to stand on God’s Word and trust Him to take care of you.

Here are three of my favorite ways to overcoming worry:

1. Slow down. Do whatever you are doing right now but do it slower. Move, talk, eat or ride your bicycle slower.
2. Input Deprivation. If you feel you are starting to worry then, admit the thought, and quickly deprive it of any energy by moving on to something positive like listing the things that are going on right or well for you at that moment.
3. Think of options. Consider if there is something you can do about the situation to change it, including who you could reach out to, a Mentor, Family or Friend. If yes, then act on the option. If no, then move on to 2 again.

Remember, “Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow, it empties today of its strength.” ~ Leo Buscaglia

“Worry often gives a small thing a big shadow.” ~ Swedish Proverb

So, STOP Worrying.