Worry Not, Please

I don't know where it comes from sometimes. It can just sneak up on you like a really clean glass door. Wait, read it again and get the visual. Yes, I have done that, it's not just for the birds, and I never saw it coming. I've also been witness to the event -- and so have you, most likely. You know, the person is just walking along, each deliberate stride in front of the last, in the planned direction and then BAM! Out of nowhere, a crippling blow that knocks the person flat on their --- booty. (The acceptable word around our home.)

That's what worry and anxiety do to me. It's just like that. Walking, walking, then BAM! And it probably does the same thing to you.

That's totally what happened to me today. And for a while, I was consumed. I was so aware of the worry, yet I couldn't figure out where it was coming from. Then it hit me. I was worrying about all of the things on my unfinished list. And that unfinished list IS long.

But -- I decided to listen to my own advice. I tell people all the time not to worry. Why? Because it doesn't do any good. It is useless, and it renders the worrier useless to herself and to everyone around her. I believe that. But here I was doing exactly what I know better than to do: worrying about things that can't be changed. Well, they CAN be changed. But only one thing at a time.

I needed a reminder. A big one. Wait, I already had one. Always have had one. Here it is (Read it twice if you have never heard it. If you have heard it, read it three times.):

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. Philippians 4 :6"

So I paused. Apologized to God for being so human and proceeded to pick one thing off of the list and get it done. And I will continue that way until everything on the list is crossed off (read: never).

So I have a list. It's alright. I'll tackle it one thing at a time. No need to worry.