Nothing To Worry About

“So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” -Matthew 6:34

Early translations often rendered the above verse “give no thought for tomorrow”, as though Jesus was telling us not to plan.  But it isn’t planning for the future that is the issue here.  Rather, the verse refers to the type of worry and anxious thinking that is fearful, cyclical and pointless.  Worry is destructive because it challenges our faith, eats at our health and zaps our energy.  What can be done about worry?  First of all, we need to pray.  Prayer shifts our focus from the thing we fear to the ONE we trust.

Below are three additional simple and practical day-to-day strategies for dealing with worry.  They are taken from Dale Carnegie’s classic work, How to Stop Worrying and Start Living, published in 1948 and never out of print.

1. If you want to avoid worry, do what Sir William Osler did: Live in “day-tight compartments.” Don’t stew about the futures. Just live each day until bedtime.
2. The next time Trouble–with a Capital T–backs you up in a corner, try the magic formula of Willis H. Carrier:
   1. Ask yourself, “What is the worst that can possibly happen if I can’t solve my problem?
   2. Prepare yourself mentally to accept the worst–if necessary.
   3. Then calmly try to improve upon the worst–which you have already mentally agreed to accept.
3. Remind yourself of the exorbitant price you can pay for worry in terms of your health. “Those who do not know how to fight worry die young.”