Do you know that worrying is a part of people's daily routine? When I say part, it's almost like we can't live without it. We worry about the past and get discouraged of what happened with our lives. We worry about the future, the unseen.
The moment we wake up in the morning, the thing that comes into our mind is the thing that happened the last day, maybe a failure to do something important. And we worry mostly about what will happen that day, like what we will eat, drink, and wear or where to get money from to pay our bills.
Because of the overwhelming needs, circumstances, and problems with our lives, we tend to get so much focused on them, the negatives, that our awareness of the positive becomes too narrow. We are anxious even with petty matters. Thus, we fail to see the bigger picture and miss to live the most important time of life, the present.
How worrying can affect you
Statistics show that most people are having health problems due to worrying. Chronic worrying will affect you emotionally, mentally, and later on physically. It can lead to high blood pressure, stomach problems, migraine, depression, nervous breakdown, and worst suicide. You can ask anyone you know suffering from such mental and physical condition, and you will see that they worry a lot.
So what is really worrying? Do you notice that when you let your mind run on its own, what it does is just worry? It's because that's the default of human nature.
There came a time when I spent a lot of time thinking about solutions to problems. I thought that I was being efficient with my time trying to come up with answers to problems, but there wasn't anything of valuable solutions coming into my mind. I thought I was thinking, but I wasn't. I was actually worrying.
I had a hard time distinguishing thinking from worrying. And it was because I wasn't aware of what was entering inside my mind. I was just receiving all the negative thoughts coming inside my head without filtering them.
Only later did I find out that it affected me a great deal. I started to feel grumpy. I wasn't anymore the happy, grateful, and productive person I used to be. It almost affected my relationship because of intense worrying. It didn't help my situation to become better in any way. It even got worse. It was like I was in bondage to a situation I was not in control of.
Finally, it hit me that I was off track. I knew there was something wrong with me in dealing with my situation, but deep in my heart I knew that it would get better and I would soon be better, too.
When you are experiencing this same situation now, that you worry a lot, I want you to know that I'm concerned about you. I know it's a struggle and not easy to live a life full of worries when you can choose to live a stress-free one. What I'll tell you next is how I discovered ways to stop worrying and start living a worry-free and stress-free life. I hope this would help you open your mind. Just read on.
Desire a worry-free life
I believe that when we want something in life that we really desire, the world will conspire to give it to us.
I know people who really want to stop from worrying and are eager to change for the better, but they fail to experience it. Why? When they hear something that can lift their spirit up, their faith is triggered and they forget how to worry, but just for a short span of time.
After a few days or weeks, they would go back to their normal and routine behavior. After a few years or so, I will hear they're having physical problems, and the diagnosis is stress due to worry and the like.
When I talk to some of them, I feel something from them. I notice why they can't experience the worry-free life is because they lack the desire of achieving it. All I hear from them are complaints, grumbles, and murmurs they have with their spouse, their children, their family, their work, their coworkers, and almost everything in their lives.
It's like there's nothing good that's going on with them. When I assess their situation, it seems that their problems aren't that too big if seen on a different perspective.
Learn to forgive and forget
When I only hear complaints from them, I feel there's something going on inside of them. They haven't let go yet of the pain from the past. Thus, they don't have trust that their lives will be better down the road.
It's just like interconnected. Having an unforgiving heart is very toxic. You can't be happy stuffing things up. Let go of the negatives of life. Learn to forgive yourself first and the people who hurt you. Shake the dust off and move on. Learn to forget the pain and let time heal it.
There's power in forgiveness. If you do, there will be a big shift in your situation. You'll become more aware, not of the bad things, but of the great things and the goodness of God. Then, you'll never know you're already experiencing living the real life.
Live the NOW
If you really want to stop from worrying, all you have to do is to live the now, the present, the moment, which you can only experience when you're free from unforgiveness. When I say the moment, it's not a few minutes ago or a second ago. It's just the very moment you are in now.
Do you see any problem, any lack, and any difficulty now, at this very second? Your struggles are from the past, the past few seconds, minutes, hours, days, and so on, but not at the moment. Your needs are for the future, maybe the next few seconds, minutes, hours, days, and so on, but not at the very moment.
All you sense and see NOW is that there is time that is priceless, air that you breath, clothes that you wear, shelter that you live in (when you're inside your house or a building), food that you eat (when you're eating), water that you drink (when you're drinking), job that you do (when you're working), a family or friend who's with you (when you're with someone), and so on.
When you live the present, you can't complain but be grateful with what you have. So there's no stress or worry. There's only LIFE.
Remember, the most precious and valuable things in life are free, just like I said above. Just be open and receive them.
I'm not saying to forget your obligations or not to plan for the future. Yes, you should do your obligations and plan for the future, but with no worries and no resistance, just with enthusiasm, a grateful heart, and a positive attitude.
What you can do best is shut the door off of your past and do whatever you do in the present as best as you can since your present will determine your future. If you worry now, you will definitely worry in the future and be bitter, desperate, and stressed. If you decide to be happy and do excellently now, you will definitely reap a good life in the future.
Surely, you will get and see positive results sometime later.
Life is a journey, not a destination. If you aim to have a good and happy life, stop from worrying and grumbling right now. You're the creator of your life and no one else. Build it as best as you can in the present and trust God for the rest.
Life is really a blessing. It's so much beautiful when all you see is the goodness of God and the abundance of His grace.
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