Thursday, June 9, 2016

"Forget Your Worries and Your Strife"

All Shall Be Well

When I look back on these worries, I remember the story of an old man who said on his deathbed that he had a lot of worries in his life, most of which had never happened.”
Winston Churchill

Worry is one of the single greatest energy sumps that humans face. And like Churchill's story, most of what we worry about never comes to pass. I call it “preemptive worrying.” We get out ahead of events by processing all the “what-if” scenarios—all the terrible things that could happen under certain circumstances. Most of us do not get creative or innovative solutions from our worry; we just get tight neck muscles, shoulder pain, and sometimes exhaustion and depression from the excessive energy required to fuel these mental gymnastics.

Worry is non-productive. According to Drake: “Sometimes we just have to stop worrying, wondering, and doubting. Have faith that things will work out, maybe not how you planned, but just how they're meant to be.” Since we can't produce anything by gnawing on our doubts and concerns, why not turn them over to our higher power, to the conscious universe, and enter into the mystery of seeing what will happen if we don't worry about it. It could be good. Actually, it could be better than we might have imagined. At any rate, it will be what it will be, with or without our losing sleep and health by stressing and worrying. The contemplative, mystical theologian, Julian of Norwich, in her book of meditations, Revelations of Divine Love, famously said, “...and all shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well.”

The path of worry is a circular one going nowhere. Engage life with trust and allow it to open on its own terms, and it will take you on adventures you may never have imagined. Wherever it takes you is where you are meant to be.

                                                            In the Spirit,

                                                                Jane

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