I have retired from my position as “Chief Worry Wart”. I got it honestly. It was a family trait, handed down from my sweet mom…the “Queen of All Things Worried”. We used to accuse my mom of lying in bed at night worrying about things to worry about tomorrow. Obviously, there are situations in life that capture your concern. You have to think creatively how to resolve adversities sometimes. But that’s not what I’m talking about here. I’m talking about those nights you lay awake hour after hour ruminating on a situation you have absolutely no control over, hoping you can somehow affect a change if you think about it hard and long enough. Worry doesn’t fix anything. It doesn’t change the future…it just changes the present. It robs you of peace (and most likely, sleep) today.

It took me a long time to kick the worry habit. I still have to stop myself on occasion. The best way I have come up with to get a grip on myself when I start obsessing on a worrisome thought is to ask myself one question…usually in the wee small hours of the morning when the dark things start creeping around in my mind. “Is there anything you can do, right this minute, to fix/change/stop this?” 99.9999% of the time, the answer to that question is “No, of course not.” And if you cannot do anything about it, worrying about it certainly isn’t going to help matters. But, that’s only the first half of the equation. I have to follow that up with something that will keep my mind occupied or I’ll end up chasing my tail all night. The first thing I do is say a prayer, tell God what’s bothering me, and ask Him to take care of it for me. Then I do this really cool meditation. I turn on my side and feel the pillowcase against my cheek. I focus on one square inch of skin, right on my cheekbone. I concentrate on how the fabric feels, how my breath sounds as it goes through my nose, how my eyelashes feel against the pillow. I focus my concentration on such a small area so there is no room for anything else. And 9 times out of 10, I’m asleep in just a few minutes. On that one time when nothing takes the worry, fear, sadness, or pain away, I am comforted by the thought that “weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.” (Psalms 30:5)

I speak often about the liberation of letting go. Try letting go of worry and see how fast your life changes.

❤

“Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?”

Matthew 6:27 NIV