Worry Warts

Are you good at praying?  I never felt that I was good at it, at open prayer that is, just saying what's on my heart.  But from a young age I was taught and could recite the Our Father or the Hail Mary, and they were good to recite.  Doing so gave me comfort because these repetitive prayers felt especially calming during times of worry.    

Sometimes when I am doing mindless activities, such as mowing the lawn, I spend it worrying.  Often it's not even what's happening in my life.  I could have had the best day ever.  Conversely it could be that there really is something going on in my world or the larger world.  Either way I come up with outrageous scenarios of what could happen or what I think is happening.  But when I ask myself if any of this is true right now, the answer is always no.  Even that realization though is often not enough to make it go away, but it's usually enough to make me want it to go away.  So then I distract myself with the repetitive prayers, asking God to clear the cobwebs from my brain and to let me spin something more productive.

The great thing is that it works.  How long it works depends on the extent of our worry and that's ok.  If we recite the words, it will bring us back to the present.    

Mindless worry is something all of us humans do.  It is a defect, a wart, but it can be overcome, at least temporarily, and then longer over time. We just need to find what works best for us.

Reflective questions:

1.  What are you worried about right now?  Is it true?

2.  Is there a song, a prayer, a word that you can repeat during this time of worry?  What’s the first thing that comes to mind?  What’s the second?

3.  What does God* want you to know about this (ask directly, God what do you want me know)?

* I use the term God as a universal term.  You may decide that Great Spirit, Allah, Higher Power, etc. better suits you for today.  It is not for me to decide.