Worry is a great problem in our world. Many people, who could be better people, commit sins and make mistakes for worrying too much, making themselves unhappy, even unholy.
Jeremiah says: "Don't worry! Be happy! Your life is full of love. It's good to smile because God and others love you." Smiles do relieve us and others of a lot of worries.
Worry is often only unreasonable agitation of soul and mind. It is always a sign or a symptom of some special weakness of our character. Like cancer, worry can consume us unless we catch it in its early stages and take the proper medication: the psychological and spiritual cures.
Psychological cure
Psychologist James Kenny says the best way to cure worries is to FLIRT. That's an amusing acronym, but it is also a very good piece of advice and it makes a lot of sense. If you want to stop worrying, you have to FLIRT. Our young people like that bit of advice. We old guys ought to like it too, because FLIRTing is good psychological help.
F in FLIRT means forget our past sufferings. Most of our worries stem from bad things that have happened to us. F also stands for fun. Kids like to play and have fun. That is why they worry less than we do. But our worries stem from bad things. But our worries will disappear if we have fun in life, too. Psychologists tell us our work should be fun and not a burden. We ought to do things we enjoy.
L in Kenny's acronym stands for laughter and smiles. A smile is a quiet emotion. Laughter is a more noisy emotion. But hoth will help us handle our worries. Kenny says I stands for indulging yourself and doing things you enjoy. Instead of worrying, you can curl up with a good book, watch a nice TV/movie, or take a hot shower and then go to bed.
R stands for relaxation which means physical rest. One of the good ways to relax is to remember (R is also happy remembrance) happy events from the past, like the day you went to first communion, the day you graduated with honrs, or the day you got married.
Kenny also suggests some psycho-physical relaxations for worry. He says you can solve your worries if you take a deep breath and imagine you are filling your lungs with peace and love. then let your breath out slowly. Imagine you are breathing out all your aches and pains and all your tension.
The T in FLIRT stands for talking with friends about your worries and troubles. When you are worried, call your friend and tell him what you are worried about. Sharing worries with a friend will always help cure our troubles. Kdnny says we are all subject to worries, but we don't have to be held captive by them. All we have to do is remember to FLIRT.
Spritual cure
For William James, the basic cure for worry and for fear and anxiety is religious faith. Those who are subject to excessive worry is the lack of spiritual life and the awareness of God's love and relationship in their lives.
In theological terms, we have to remember God's providence to solve all our worries. Providence is God's love. God loves every human being whom he created. He wants them to be happy and not to worry. He makes on demands on His creatures that are either impossible or too difficult to obey with the help of His grace and love. God permits no suffering to enter our human lives without a reason that will redound to our greater happiness in life and in heaven.
Jesus spoke these beautiful words to us: "I say to you, my sons and daughters, do not worry about your life. Look at the birds of the air. They do not sow, they do not reap or gather grain into barns, yet your Heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not more valuable to God than they are? Which of you can add a single inch to your height or more hair to your head by being worried about it?
"Look at the lilies of the field, they neither toil nor spin, yet not even Solomon in his glory was arrayed like one of those lilies. But if God takes care of the lilies and the grass of the field which flourishes today but tomorrow is thrown into the fire, how much more does God take care of you? Oh, you of little faith. You worry when you should trust in God.
"Therefore do not worry and say: 'What shall we eat? What shall we drink? [Or what shall we buy?] Your Father know you need all those things. Seek first the kingdom of heaven - the love of God and His holiness - and all these things will be given to you. Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will have worries of its own. Sufficient for today is the worries we have today.' We certainly ought to do our best to eliminate worrying in our lives."
A worried man who once said, "Give me a guide and a light unto my feet," got this response from God: "Put your hand in mine and I shall be your friend, your companion and protector."
Those who are inclined to worry should concentrate on this great truth of love - God is my Father. He wathes over me with a Father's anxious love. Christ is my brother and my redeemer. He will give me grace and courage to follow Him in my worries on the way to the cross. Heaven waits for me, where all earthly worries will disappear, and God will be my happy reward and unspeakable joy. Our worries will also ease if we do not concentrate on ourselves, but keep our minds fixed on the needs of our neighbors. For a worry-free life, stand by Jesus' great commandment: "Love God with all your heart, all your mind and all your will, and love your brothers and sisters as much as you love yourselves."
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