Worry: The Thief of Trust

About a year and a half ago, I was having a lot of health issues. I wasn’t sleeping at night. I wasn’t eating. I lost about 20 lbs in 6 weeks. I was working 50+ hours a week at my place of employment. I was working an additional 30+ hours a week at home to finish what I couldn’t get done at work. When I was at work I was busy from the moment that I walked in the door until the moment I left. The only down time I had was when I was driving to and from work. I was stressed out and worried.

I was worried about my job, and I was worried about my health. I was so stressed out and worried that I went to the doctor afraid that I had something horrible and was dying. All of the tests came back clear.

About 6 months later, I started taking a series of training workshops on working with children who have been traumatized.  In the first session, they described the symptoms of compassion fatigue (also called secondary post traumatic stress disorder). I had every single one of the symptoms that they listed. 

The reason why I have compassion fatigue?

I was so busy trying to control everything that I wasn’t trusting anybody, and most importantly I wasn’t trusting God.

Worry and stress comes when we try to control everything and trying to do everything for ourselves.

So how do you stop worrying? How do you learn to trust?

1)     Pray: Ask the Lord to help you relax and let go. Ask Him to teach you to trust. Next time something happens that you can’t control pray. Give to Him right then. Don’t hang on to it.

2)   Opposite action: I learned about this in the workshops. In opposite action, you do the opposite of what your initial reaction is. For example, if you are like me and you are a people pleaser, when someone asks you to do something you usually say yes even if you don’t have time or don’t want to do it. Well, next time, say “no”.

3)   Let go. I know that it is easier said than done, but you are not God. You can’t control everybody and everything.

4)   Take time for you.  Spend time each day doing something you love. Exercise, Eat right. Read a book. Take care of YOU because if you don’t you won’t be able to take care of others.

5)   Turn your focus to Christ. This last one is probably the most important. If you are focused on Christ, then you know that He can handle it and that He will give you what you need.

“Therefore I tell you, don not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on, is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?”

~Matthew 6:25

God Bless You

Misty