Releasing The Grasp Of Worry

It the world of frugality, tight budgets and deep debt; the world I live in, there’s a great deal of worry that can lurk about. You worry that you’ll never be able to catch up on that bill that got behind or that something huge and tragic will throw you off course. Perhaps you worry if you’ll even make it.

Worry, anxiety and stress are no friend to you. I am speaking from thorough experience here. It is against my grain NOT to worry about EVERYTHING. I worry that we’ll never get out of this thing, that we won’t make progress like I hope and that my world will come crashing down around me. If I allow myself even a minute of worry it completely consumes me. It squeezes every ounce of hope from my chest and paralyzes me with fear … over things that may never even happen. The only thing worry has ever done for me is make me physically ill, cloud my thinking and impair my judgement. You may not worry to the extent that I do (I hope you don’t) but we all do from time to time so I’m sure you can identify to some degree and I wouldn’t have trouble convincing you that worry profits us nothing.

What are you to do then? When faced with circumstances that threaten to swallow you with anxiety is there any other option other than to worry? I think there is.  When I worry I focus on the problem. I need to do something that switches my attention to something productive, a solution. I’m still thinking about the same situation but I’m choosing to place it in a different light. Instead of wringing my hands and throwing myself into a fit of nerves I need to feel like I’m doing something about it.

For instance, let’s say that the reason I’m full of worry is because my car broke down and needs a $2,500 repair. I don’t have the money to repair it but I need my car. Of course I can worry about it, assume the worst and cry myself a puddle of tears but that won’t help me at all. Instead, I could put my nervous energy into laying out some ideas or solutions. How could I drum up some extra money quickly? What could I cut back on to free up a little bit more? Is there a less expensive temporary fix to buy me some time? Worry is much less likely to plague me if my attention is occupied by something productive.

Warding off worry:

1. Recognize it. If you’re prone to worry and anxiety then you know when it’s coming on. Recognize that what you’re feeling is emotional, not reality.
2. Do something. There’s nothing worse than sitting still and allowing yourself to dream up everything that could possibly go wrong. Don’t do it. Get up.
3. Work on a solution. Invest your energy in something useful and productive.
4. Let it be. Sometimes we worry about things we have no control over and there is no good solution. This is the most harmful of all. This type of worry robs your hope and fills you with doubt. In these times we need to muster the strength to let it be and walk away. Invest your energy into something else completely. The Bible says that perfect love casts out all fear. What do you love? Focus on that.

I know I won’t ever completely conquer worry but I have come a very long way on my journey to lessen its power in my life and make it more of an infrequent occurrence rather than a state of being.

Why I do what I do ~ One of my favorite things is to listen to the girls argue over the right way to pronounce things. Yesterday they argued over the correct way to pronounce their bedtime and finally decided it should be “Eighty Clock.”

photo credit: Lisa Brewster

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Tagged as: Finance, Money Trouble, Personal Growth