5 Steps to Overcome Anxiety

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Five times in the Sermon on the Mount Jesus commands us not to worry. But we do. So here are Five principles to overcome worry.

First, Identify the specific source of worry.  Are we worried about future things that almost never happen? Mark Twain expressed it well, “I’ve suffered a great many misfortunes, most of which never happened.”

Or are we worried about things over which we have no control?

God has given each one of us a very limited scope of authority or responsibility: Our own behavior; our family and kids; our workplace; and voting. We spend a lot of emotional energy worrying about things beyond our responsibility. That is God’s responsibility. Surrender to God what is his responsibility.  

Or are we worried about things we are procrastinating? When we put off some responsibility – anxiety sets in. Just do it and you will feel better.

Have you bitten off more than you can chew, trying to do the impossible? That is certainly a cause for anxiety and the time to make a change.

What is your specific source of worry? What wakes you at 3AM?

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The Second Principle is to Lower the Stakes.  

We suffer from worry when we make the stakes way higher than they really are. We are wired to be alert to danger, especially danger that could kill us. So, in a sense we are wired to assume we will die if we mess up. We need to lower the stakes to match reality. Most likely, the thing we are worried about won’t kill us or anyone else. What is the worst-case scenario? If you can live with that, then you can live with anything else. It lowers the pressure.  

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The Third Principle is that Failure is good.

We must fail to grow. We have the false idea that failure is bad, even deadly and this becomes a cause of anxiety. They only way we grow is to try things we haven’t mastered. This entails risk. If we play it safe all the time, with a caution that avoids all mistakes and failures – it will be impossible for us to grow. There is no failure – there is only learning.

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The Fourth Principle is to Live in the present moment.

God is eternal which means He lives in the Present Moment. Satan wants to keep us from God. His strategy is to keep us living in the future by worry so that we never experience God in the present.

Focus on what can and must be done today. Make a plan for the near future. But once you make your plan – quit living in the future and do the next right step today.

If I slow down and name the good things I am experiencing right now and thank God for them, I begin to live in the present moment.

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The Fifth Principle is to Gain Evidence

The only way to overcome worry is to face it, go through it, and gain evidence that is was never as bad as we worried it would be. Look back on your life and see all the solid undeniable evidence, that God brought you through every difficult, unsolvable, fearful, and painful thing safely and he provided for you.

That evidence is proof it will be the same in the future because God, who protects and provides will not change.

In this decade look back with the help of Our Lady and see the evidence that God took care of you.