No Worries

I have been going through a really difficult time the last few months.  I know life is always going to have its ups and downs, but for some reason I seem to be stuck in a bottom of a really deep valley at the moment. A lot of bad things have been happening in my life lately including serious health issues affecting my mom, my wife and one of my children. I also discovered a serious financial problem affecting my mom that was created by one of our relatives. I have also had some really difficult situations to handle at work and just to add salt to the wound, I injured my back worse than ever last week and now I need physical therapy.

So, it would be easy to whine and complain and feel sorry for myself. (And sometimes I do find myself doing that just a little bit.) But I know that if I decide to worry, it will just make everything worse. The word worry comes from a word that means “to divide”. So if I worry... I am actually dividing my energy which leaves me feeling drained and a whole lot worse overall.

So this morning I wrote out a list of the six major problems I am facing at the moment. Then I tried to find a positive take for each problem. It wasn’t easy to find the positive side of each problem, but I focused my energy and thoughts and was actually able to write out something positive for every single one. I didn’t necessarily solve each problem, but I did put each one in the proper perspective.

After doing this exercise I felt a lot better and a lot stronger. I think I discovered that focusing on finding the positive side of a problem is way better than worrying about it, because when we worry about a problem, the problem gets us instead of us getting it.

The other thing I did was to take a moment to pray about the problems. But I took a new approach, a little different than usual. I didn’t ask God to solve my problems, I simply thanked him for all the “positive things” I came up with and for always working in my best interest, whether I understand it or not. I am not naive so I know my current run of bad luck may not be over, and there may be even more problems on my horizon. But I now know that truly focusing on the positive and being thankful for the good things in my life will help me to put my fears aside and have the courage to climb out of a valley, no matter how deep it is.  

Be strong and of good courage, do not fear nor be afraid; 

for the Lord your God, He is the One who goes with you. 

He will never leave you nor forsake you.

~ Deuteronomy 31:6