Stop Worrying and Start Living

Worrying: causing anxiety about actual or potential problems.

This is the definition of worrying. 

I am a woman that  has worrying down.

I'm so good at it.

It's my specialty.

What keeps you up at night? Money, kids, marriage, friends, government, health?

Did you know that worrying can actually cause medical issues? 

Excessive worrying causes the fight or flight response according to Web MD. It causes the body's sympathetic nervous system to release stress hormones such as cortisol. These hormones boost blood sugar levels and triglycerides that can cause physical reactions like: depression, suppression of the immune system, digestive disorders, muscle tension, short-term memory loss, premature coronary artery disease and heart attack.

That is so crazy when you think about it (or don't because you might start worrying). 

When you Google worrying there are so many pages with steps to help you. Things like: sleep, exercise, knitting, and hydrating. There are so many help sites out there from every point of view. Whatever you need someone has the answer.

I'm the queen bee of worrying. Just ask my husband. I worry about things from what I need to get done to things that might possibly happen in 10 years. Sometimes I make up things in my head and start worrying about them even though they aren't real. Sometimes my worrying can rule every moment of my life. It's a bigger problem when it starts causing issues in my relationships. There are even sometimes that I worry about worrying. Things like: did I make my husband upset because I was worried? My worries will also rule my sleep, like the last couple of nights. I have been having some days filled with worries and even though my husband talks with me and makes me feel better sometimes it doesn't always help perfectly. The last few nights I have had some awful dreams (I don't usually remember my dreams either) but last night was the worst. It was the worst dream that I have had in a really long time. I woke up crying and I accidentally woke my husband up in the process. He made me feel better and gave me some much needed love, but now I have to go through my day reminding myself that this was a dream and the feelings weren't real. I have to make sure it doesn't spark more worry in my mind. Worry can become a domino effect, it can just continue into a much bigger problem and it all started in my head.  Sometimes my worries are small (I look back and realize they were silly) and sometimes they are issues that I feel are bigger than they actually are. 

I have to stop and think about what I'm doing.
 I have to think if it's real or if it's made up in my head. When I know that I am thinking about something that isn't real and it's destructive then I try to remember to turn myself to God and ask him to fill my mind with more constructive things. I don't always go this route and sometimes I just give in to the worry and let it take over. That's when the real trouble starts. I can go from worrying to being really upset.

"I am an old man and have known a great many troubles, but most of them have never happened."

 -Mark Twain

This quote is so me. I have so many troubles that haven't even happened. I wasn't always this way.
I remember when I was mostly worry free. Where worry didn't rule my life. My goal is to get back there to that place. To give my worries over to God to handle.

We (myself included) have to stop focusing our thoughts on events that haven't even taken place. Worrying accomplishes nothing and it can keep you from living the life God has intended for you. These are the things I try to remind myself daily.Worrying exaggerates the problem. Worry cannot change the past and it can't control the future. Worrying is keeping you from so many things in life. It keeps us from focusing on our husbands and fully enjoying our children. It stops us from finding joy where we are in our lives. We don't know how long we have to be on this earth and we need to start living our lives to the fullest. If we knew it was our last day we would be living differently than we are right now. Live each day as if it was our last. Do you want to be remembered as the loved one that had many worries or the one that really lived life? We have got to stop worrying and start living!

Matthew 6:34  “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.