WORRYING

It is not as though constantly hitting the ground in our minds means that when it actually happens it doesn’t hurt. It only hurts again

When we worry we focus our attention on experiencing the worst that can happen over and over again. All of this rehearsal time spent experiencing the bad things does not in any way diminish the effect that these things have on us when and if they finally happen.

The most outstanding thing about this is that as often as not the bad things, the things we spend all of our time worrying about just never happen. I have a friend who every time he meets someone new, and sets up a date with that person, he starts playing the whole thing out. He builds each small piece of information that he may have about the person into a long story and compares it with his story and puts the two together and either it takes the entire relationship to the point where one of them has to end it. This is done before he even spends 10 minutes with the other person. Sometimes the date is canceled. Sometimes everything goes great, but never, does his scenario play out. If the date is a week away from the time that they meet, this is a week that my friend goes through the most torturous hell imaginable.

The fact that he suffered for a week is the best case scenario. The worst case scenario is that he leads the relationship through all of his preconceived disasters. When we worry, we accomplish nothing. Worrying does not have any effect what so ever upon the outcome of a situation, nor does it effect our ability to handle the outcome. It is not as though we having hit the ground so many times in our minds that when we finally do it won’t hurt. It only hurts again.

Once the ball leaves our hands anything can happen. Careful aim can narrow the margin of error, but the fact remains that anything can happen. When we feel ourselves entering into a state of worry, we must ask ourselves what we can do to make a difference or help guarantee the outcome that we want. If there is something that we can do, we should do it. If there is nothing that we can do, let it go and move on. What will be will be. And what will be is what is meant to be. Our part is throwing the ball and Gods part is hitting the right mark. Every time that we set a goal it is not necessarily to reach an end, it is to reach the next point in our journey. Even if we get to the exact point that we planned, there is no guarantee that it will be in any way where we want to stay.

The fact is that everything always works out for everyone in the end, if it didn't we wouldn't be able to move on. Sometimes everything falls apart at the same time, what a wonderful thing to be able to work them all out at the same time and get it over with. It is time to start eliminating from our lives some of the things that we do to ourselves. There are seasons in our lives there is a time to build and a time to break down.

Things are moving so fast that we really need to remove all of the distractions that we possibly can. It is time to be in a permanent state of awareness. It is as though God is throwing the ball to us and saying, “Heads up” twenty-four hours a day. We are sent enough curve balls from life not to have to imagine them. This is an important time in our history. Let’s live it as it is and really try to be where we are. There is really no time to worry. And if we do not worry, we won’t have anything to worry about.

Let us stop doing things to ourselves and start doing things for ourselves. Let us begin to live our lives as they are not as they could or should be. For every moment that we spend thinking about how something should be, we just missed living it as it is. If we do not worry, we do not have room for fear to grow. If we do not fear we do not have food for worry.