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“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:4-7

Worry comes from a word meaning “to strangle”. Although, this may not be what we think of when we think of the word worry today, if we are really honest we can recognize the fact that worry can indeed strangle us.

“Word History: Worrying may shorten one’s life, but not as quickly as it once did. The ancestor of our word, Old English wyrgan, meant “to strangle.” Its Middle English descendant, worien, kept this sense and developed the new sense “to grasp by the throat with the teeth and lacerate” or “to kill or injure by biting and shaking.” This is the way wolves or dogs might attack sheep, for example. In the 16th century worry began to be used in the sense “to harass, as by rough treatment or attack,” or “to assault verbally,” and in the 17th century the word took on the sense “to bother, distress, or persecute.” It was a small step from this sense to the main modern senses “to cause to feel anxious or distressed” and “to feel troubled or uneasy,” first recorded in the 19th century.” Dicitonary.com

Considering this negative etymological connotation of the word worry we can say quite confidently that worry is not generally a good thing. Although, there are certain contexts in which worry is positive in the sense that it is a deterrent form wrong action, such as when you worry because you are doing something wrong or have an unsettled feeling about a wrong choice. Also worry can be positive when it applied to the essential; not the incidental, which is usually out of our hands anyway. However, when worry does not lead to a positive action or pray; and there is simply nothing that can be done to change the situation it is only detrimental. Worry has this uncanny ability to bring out the worst in us by triggering our emotions and producing anxiety. Anxiety being the physiology state produced by worry; including symptoms such as increased blood pressure and heart rate, sweat, nausea, chest pain, headache, decreased immune function, and the overall stress placed on all our body systems by disturbing homeostasis. Psychologists often term this disruption of homeostasis that brings about anxiety a fight or flight response. This literally put our bodies on edge, which can be helpful if we are facing a life or death situation and really need to take action; however most of the time that is not the case. So, there really is no sense in worrying; for unnecessary worry just produces stress, caused distraction from the task at hand, impairs our ability to function properly, and leaves us torn apart emotionally.

An average person’s anxiety is focused on :
40% — things that will never happen
30% — things about the past that can’t be changed
12% — things about criticism by others, mostly untrue
10% — about health, which gets worse with stress
8% — about real problems that will be faced

“Do not worry if you have built your castles in the air. They are where they should be. Now put the foundations under them.” Henry David Thoreau (American Essayist, Poet and Philosopher, 1817-1862)

Bill Belichick gave his team a mental exercise a few months ago. He told his players to imagine a two-by-four on the ground and think about walking across it while keeping their balance. No big deal, right?

Then he said to imagine the same piece of wood suspended 300 feet above the ground. Suddenly, walking the plank seems a lot more daunting.

“You shouldn’t [feel more pressure], it’s the same two-by-four, but your mind is letting you know that if I slip or I fall, any miscalculation of a step, that’s it for you,” Patriots receiver Donte’ Stallworth said. “You stay focused on walking across that two-by-four, and then there’s no pressure.” (newsday.com)

Right now the New England Patriots are not worrying, because they have built their castles in the air, and are now prepared to build their foundation under the castle of Superbowl XLII. Donte’ Stallworth will be approaching the Superbowl just like any other game. He said he is always able to block out pressure(ie worry), and that you can’t worry about how big the game is, but you just have to go out there and play like any other game. Tom Brady talked the other day of resting and not allowing the anxiety to get to him throughout the day as he prepares for the game. He said the game can be very emotionally draining, and so he does not want to drain himself before game time. When we see that the pressures of the world are on our shoulders it is so important for us not to become overly worried about what the future may hold, or what the past held, because it will just drive you crazy. I know when I start thinking ahead about all these things which I am facing in the future it becomes very overwhelming. When I am able to tune all those worries out and focus solely on the situation at hand it always comes out better in the end. We cannot live on yesterday’s successes or failures, for we can never know the ifs of tomorrow. Every day is a clean slate, and a past failure holds no psychological bearing on today unless we allow it to, just like a success of the past will not guarantee you any future success today. The old adage of approaching it one day at a time is so true, for each day holds enough worries. We can only take it one day at a time. The past cannot be moved and the future cannot be known.

We can easily manage if we will only take, each day, the burden appointed to it. But the load will be too heavy for us if we carry yesterday’s burden over again today, and then add the burden of the morrow before we are required to bear it. ~John Newton

There are two days in the week about which and upon which I never worry… Yesterday and Tomorrow. ~Robert Jones Burdette

How to conquer worry:
Get plenty of rest; troubles often look smaller as you get closer; distinguish between those parts of life you can control and those you can’t; check your goals–are you worrying about unrealistic ambitions? Depend on God. .
(Happiness is a Choice, p. 171.)

Worry never robs tomorrow of its sorrow, it only saps today of its joy. ~Leo Buscaglia

Do not anticipate trouble or worry about what may never happen. Keep in the sunlight. ~Benjamin Franklin

If you can’t sleep, then get up and do something instead of lying there worrying. It’s the worry that gets you, not the lack of sleep. ~Dale Carnegie

I’ve developed a new philosophy… I only dread one day at a time. ~Charlie Brown (Charles Schulz)

Troubles are a lot like people – they grow bigger if you nurse them. ~Author Unknown

If you want to test your memory, try to recall what you were worrying about one year ago today. ~E. Joseph Cossman

You can’t wring your hands and roll up your sleeves at the same time. ~Pat Schroeder

Worrying is like a rocking chair, it gives you something to do, but it gets you nowhere. ~Glenn Turner

If you treat every situation as a life and death matter, you’ll die a lot of times. ~Dean Smith

As a cure for worrying, work is better than whiskey. ~Thomas A. Edison

Worry often gives a small thing a big shadow. ~Swedish Proverb

It is the little bits of things that fret and worry us; we can dodge a elephant, but we can’t dodge a fly. ~Josh Billings

Any concern too small to be turned into a prayer is to small to be made into a burden. ~Corrie ten Boom, Clippings from My Notebook

A day of worry is more exhausting than a day of work. ~John Lubbock

As a rule, what is out of sight disturbs men’s minds more seriously than what they see. ~Julius Caesar

No man ever sank under the burden of the day. It is when tomorrow’s burden is added to the burden of today that the weight is more than a man can bear. ~George MacDonald

We are, perhaps, uniquely among the earth’s creatures, the worrying animal. We worry away our lives. ~Lewis Thomas, The Medusa and the Snail, 1979

There are people who are always anticipating trouble, and in this way they manage to enjoy many sorrows that never really happen to them. ~Josh Billings

Only man clogs his happiness with care, destroying what is with thoughts of what may be. ~John Dryden

Love looks forward, hate looks back, anxiety has eyes all over its head. ~Mignon McLaughlin, The Neurotic’s Notebook, 1960

Worry is interest paid on trouble before it comes due. ~William Ralph Inge

“Worry is spiritual short sight. Its cure is intelligent faith.” Paul Brunton

“It only seems as if you’re doing something when you worry.” Lucy Maud Montgomery quotes (Canadian Writer, 1874-1942)

“If pleasures are greatest in anticipation, just remember that this is also true of troubles” Elbert Hubbard quotes (American editor, publisher and writer, 1856-1915)

“If you ask what is the single most important key to longevity, I would have to say it is avoiding worry, stress and tension. And if you didn’t ask me, I’d still have to say it.” George F. Burns quotes (American comedian 1896-1996)