"Stop Worrying and Start Living"

So I tell you, don't worry about everyday life--whether you have enough food, drink, and clothes. Doesn't life consist of more than food and clothing?
(Matt 6:25 NLT)

Worrying is one of the most destructive of all human habits because it decreases your effectiveness in other areas. When you worry about something, your thoughts and your emotions focus on events that haven't yet taken place. It's like Mark Twain once said: "I am an old man and have known a great many troubles, but most of them have never happened."

Worrying is totally passive. It accomplishes nothing. On the other hand, worrying can literally make you sick while keeping you from accomplishing the things that really matter. Here's a sobering thought: Worry can keep you from living your life the way God intended it.

Think about the things you worry about. Amazingly, you probably worry about the small stuff. Those details of life over which you have little or no control. Oswald Chambers wrote: "It is not only wrong to worry, it is unbelief; worrying means we do not believe that God can look after the practical details of our lives, and it is never anything but those details that worry us."

Jesus asked the rhetorical question, "can all your worries add a single moment to your life? Of course not" (matt 6:27 NLT). If anything, worries can and will take away from your life. Are you trying to arrange the details of your life so carefully that you are leaving God out of the process? Then you're probably worrying too much. You're relying on your own abilities, and you think you have a lot to lose if things don't turn out the way you want.

Clearly the antidote to worry is trusting God to take care of the small stuff of your life. Invite Him to get involved in the details of your life. "Give all your worries and cares to God," says the Bible, "for he cares about what happens to you" (1 Peter 5:7 NLT).

...IN THE SMALL STUFF

• Live longer by worrying less.
• Don't worry about what you can't do. If you must worry, worry about why you won't do what you should do.
• Before you worry needlessly, ask yourself, "What's the worst thing that could happen?"
• When you're feeling overwhelmed, remember to take things one at a time--one day at a time.
• Worrying occurs when God is left out of the process.
• Anxiety is short-lived if we give it to God.
• If you prepare for the future, you won't have to worry about it.
• Don't worry as much about where you are as where you are going.
• Rather than worrying about change, learn to thrive on it.
• Worry is a choice.
• When you choose to worry, you are choosing not to trust God.
• Worrying can literally harm you--emotionally, physically, mentally, and spiritually.
• Instead of worrying about what you can't do, think about what God can do for you.
• The best way to stop worrying is to start praying.
• Never confuse worrying about tomorrow with planning for tomorrow.
  
• Prayer changes things; worry changes nothing.

[from a book written by Bruce and Stan called "God is in the Small Stuff and it all matters"]

I think that line that says, "Rather than worry about change, learn to thrive on it," was written especially for me. I'm normally quite the adventurous one who's always looking for the excitement in life, but when it comes to making adjustments in life, I...get scared. Yes, I said it, I get scared. KAREN gets scared. yup! you better believe it. People say it's normal for this stage in life and that I'm not the only one experiencing this.

I'm more like my dad than I realized. He has a regular tendency to worry about the littlest things, well, here I am following in his footsteps when I so adamantly told myself I wouldn't.

Worry really does eat one up alive.
My insides have been eating themselves outward, my muscles are all knotted up, and worry pretty much has affected my whole persona...so, before it gets too far and reaches the surface, I have put my foot down and said to WORRY, "stop eating me alive!" I will not let YOU run my life and control my thoughts.

This year, rather than make a whole long list of New Year's resolutions that I would most likely break, I wrote one thing: Trust in the Lord Always. That's it. And here I am practically spent all of January worrying about the future! Wow, I'm learning a lot about myself and my resolutions.

So, each day I've begun to pray a new prayer. "I've given you 99% of my doubts, fears, and worries Lord, there's just that 1% I can't seem to let go of. Please, teach me to unclench my fist and drop it in your hand. I want to Trust in YOU always."

This is my walk (or crawl) and I'm sure many will be able to relate. I'm learning to worry less about change, because whether I like it or not, change will probably be the most constant part of my life here on out and I better get used to it. The only thing I can change is my attitude towards it. So...here's to [the rest of my] life and to a change in attitude! May they be the best changes I have ever experienced as well as the best you've ever experienced in yours. Cheers...