We spend a lot of time worrying.

So much time.

Fretting, fearing, worrying, complaining, justifying, grumbling, anticipating, worrying some more…

So much wasted time.

To paraphrase Matthew, we don’t add anything to our lives by worrying. Worrying is like a rocking chair – you can do it a whole lot and it will never get you anywhere.

I call it bridge crossing.

If we would just NOT cross that bridge! Don’t go over it! It doesn’t need to be crossed because there’s no real reason to cross it! Going over that bridge is to anticipate what MIGHT happen – what COULD happen – what if…

And we waste all the precious moments we are given worrying about something that might never happen.

Ever.

We don’t add any days to our lives by worrying.

We don’t fix the problem by worrying.

I would venture to say we only ADD to the problem by worrying – because we dream up what MIGHT be – we cross that bridge multiple times and each time we end up on the other side in a different possible scenario that will most likely

NEVER HAPPEN.

So, what if we replaced all those worries with love?

What if every time we worried, we replaced those thoughts with whatever is pure, noble, and praiseworthy? What if we practiced this art until it felt like our favorite worn, soft, sweatshirts? Familiar and warm?

Then – to take it a step further, what if you replaced those worries with pure thoughts and THEN thought of SOMEONE ELSE?

Because really, it hurts every time I say it, but the fact is – IT IS NOT ALWAYS ABOUT ME.

Today I was given a very personal, beautiful gift from a friend, and accompanying it was a personal, handmade with love card. This gift was just what I needed – it made me feel special, known, cared about, and loved.

If more of us would replace all those selfish, insecure thoughts with love for others, can you imagine what the world around us would become? How much more intentional our relationships would be? How worry would slowly begin to sink into the background and out on the frontlines, where we need it most, would be perseverance, character, and hope?

And what a blessing for your own life.

It doesn’t take the reality of suffering away, but it puts that suffering in perspective. It pulls us out of our own heads and forces us to see the world around us with open eyes.

Eyes that understand our problems, though they may be big and overwhelming, can be overcome by a Savior who is bigger and more overwhelming-er (I’m an English teacher so I can justify making up that word).

So replace your worry with something that is worth your head energy. Shut down the hamster wheel in your head and replace it with something better.

Love more – worry less.

Matthew 6:25-27

“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?  Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?

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