What's Worry Got To Do With It?

A nagging thought, followed by another nagging thought followed by a few more nagging thoughts…now all I’m thinking about is this nagging thought. Do you ever worry? I mean really worry to the point of losing sleep or developing a massive headache, or high blood pressure? Well, the word worry means in short "to choke" or "to strangle."

Now, isn't that a suitable description of what worry does to us! What else does worry do? It makes a small problem look big. It keeps you from enjoying life; creates stress which can lead to health problems. Worry is that hard to reach itch that knows you can’t get to it so, it keeps coming back in that same place. Until you change tactics!

You may be facing a few frustrating situations in your life. Even be looking at some circumstances that seem impossible. I believe no one likes the way constant worrying makes them feel, so why is it so difficult to stop? In the spiritual sense scripture says that we are to “cast all of our cares on Him, for He cares for us” (1 Peter 5:7). 

Cast, meaning grab a hold of those worries and fast ball them far from us towards God. He is more than able to take it from you, if you’re willing to leave them with Him. Now, if you insist on keeping it all for yourself instead of letting it go, you’ll be reeling the negative outcomes it brings into your life.

What I’ve learned is that in the end, worry won't stretch our savings account or keep sickness or disease or job loss away. But it will sour our mood and eventually stifle our relationship with God, family and friends. Worry is based on fear and uncertainty: 

You're worried about losing your job; you're worried about not getting into that perfect school; you're worried about losing a relationship; you're worried about not being liked; you're worried you're losing your mind. At other times, the "potential" loss is a little harder to identify but you worry about it anyway and all the "possible" probabilities; you’re afraid because you're losing the ability to control a situation; you're anxious about the future; you're afraid of losing something… (Philippians 4:6-7).

Can worry add a single hour to your life (Matthew 6:27, Luke 12:25)? No. In fact, worry will most likely subtract hours from it instead. Worry has no productive value. Worry is an indicator of our level of faith and trust in God. To worry about things we can't change is a terrible waste of emotional energy. So, why can't we stop worrying? All of our worries are rooted in fear of loss. What many of us fear is losing our inaccurate self-portrait of having it all together. Part of our nature is our desire to control. 

We want to control our circumstances, our relationships, and our future. Giving up the sapping influence of worry is one big step toward freeing your spirit and letting yourself be less than perfect. As a believer, whenever I choose to worry about something, I am in fact saying, "I'm not sure God will do anything about my situation” which is inaccurate (Mathew 6:25-34).

 

Some natural home remedies to help live more and worry less:

1. Pray, mediate, journal it all out

2. Slow down. Winston Churchill said it best: “When I look back on all my worries, I remember the story of the old man who said on his deathbed that he had had a lot of trouble in his life, most of which had never happened.”

3. Don’t get lost in unclear fears - when you lack clarity about something it’s very easy to get lost in exaggerated worries.

4. Don’t try to guess what’s on someone else’s mind - it can very easily lead to creating an exaggerated negative scenario in your mind.

5. Sorry to say but remember, people don’t think about you and what you do as much as you may think - don’t get lost in worries about what people may think or say if you do something.

6. Go for a walk - working out releases inner tensions, releasing happy endorphin that ease the mind, body and soul.

7. Spend more time in the “now” - appreciate what's going right, enjoy what's happening right now.

8. Choose peace.