Worriers Don’t Worry! There’s Good News for You!
“Never let the future disturb you. You will meet it, if you have to, with the same weapons of reason which today arm you against the present.” ~Marcus Aurelius
I fished up a great new resource while trolling some insight about worry. The website is called www.secondchance.org. We may gripe about it, but the things we browse while online fetch us more material on our topics of interest. This is an example of things that land in my inbox simply because someone “out there” knows what fascinates me.
The creators of the website have published a book called People of the Second Chance. Here’s an abbreviated description. Tagline: A Manifesto for Prodigals, Imperfectionists, and Hopesters (don’t you love that word- hopesters?) “What if I told you that you and your not-so-perfect story have been invited to experience the joy of second chance living…This simple guide will show you how your imperfect life matters… It will help you see your scars, flaws, and failures as unfair advantages and gifts that you can bring to the world… this book will help you discover beauty in the brokenness.” Of course, I ordered the book. (I know, right?)
FEAR AND WORRY ARE OLD FRIENDS
“There are two kinds of people in the world” is a standard opening line for a joke. I’ll suggest there are two kinds of people in the world, worriers and those who wonder if they should be more worried. It’s not very funny, though, is it? Statistics tell us that about 38% of us worry every day.
Each time I write a new post, I take a stab at guessing a common pain point. Of course, everyone has their individual concerns but a broad brush reveals a large number of us share the widespread angst. Fear and worry are present in peace time and war time, in bountiful crop years and during droughts, in good times and bad.
And you know what else? It’s worthless to worry about nearly everything we worry about and here’s why. Forty percent of the things we worry about never happen and 30 percent are in the past. That leaves 12 percent that isn’t our business and 10 percent are about real or imagined illnesses. Do the math. Only 8 percent remains.
If only 8 out of 100 things we worry about are worth worrying about, is it worth it to worry about them? (That’s a mouthful!) Ben Franklin didn’t think so, that’s why he picked up a quill and penned these words, “Do not anticipate trouble, or worry about what may never happen. Keep in the sunlight.” Right now, 38% of you are saying, “that’s easy for you to say!”
WORRIERS, THERE’S HELP FOR YOU
So, if worry is so wide-spread, what are we doing about it? Is there help for worriers? In fact, the answer is yes, there’s a lot we can do to unravel the knots in our soul, the ones we make by knitting stories in our head about what might happen. Worriers almost always spin a yarn that far overestimates any negative outcome and underestimates their ability to handle whatever “it” is that happens next.
I’ll fill you in on the book after I read it or you might want to buy your own, it’s on sale right now. But wait, there’s more! While on the website I watched (for $0) three great videos about defeating fear. And, I downloaded a free ebook called Fear Busters! I hope you check it out soon!
Perhaps more than anything else, this faith-based process of fighting worry and fear resonated deeply with me in this holiest week of the church year. Jesus is the ultimate encourager and forgives all our shortcomings and flaws. He loves us right where we are today. Corrie ten Boom, Holocaust survivor and one of my favorite sources of wisdom, shares this pearl, “Worrying is carrying tomorrow’s load with today’s strength- carrying two days at once….Worrying doesn’t empty tomorrow of its sorrow, it empties today of its strength.”
Her words echo scripture as Matthew 6:34 teaches us, “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”
Have a most blessed Easter, talk to you next week!! Why not invite a friend to subscribe?
