Mardi Croix...Don't Worry

“Do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body and what you are to wear. Surely life is more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds in the sky, they do not sow or reap or gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they are? Can any of you, however much you worry, add one single cubit to your span of life.”

And why worry about clothing? Think of the flowers growing in the fields; they never have to work or spin; yet I assure you that not even Solomon in all his royal robes was clothed like one of these. Now if that is how God clothes the wild flowers growing in the field which are there today and thrown into the furnace tomorrow, will he not much more look after you, you who have so little faith?

So do not worry; do not say, "What are we to eat? What are we to drink? What are we to wear?" It is the gentiles who set their hearts on all these things. Your heavenly Father knows you need them all. Set your hearts on his kingdom first, and on God's saving justice, and all these other things will be given you as well.
So do not worry about tomorrow: tomorrow will take care of itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. Matthew 6:25

If you have ever read the Catholic Bible or the New King James Matthew's piece in Chapter 6 about worrying is a real gem. i've read both and they differ in the final line in ways that has me, a lapsed Catholic, preferring the Catholic version which is above.

Attending Catholic school made it mandatory that we read and understand the bible. Religion class was an integral part of growing up and did more to induce the use of the words “WHY” or “WHERE IS THE PROOF FOR THAT” by myself than any other class i've ever had to sit through. i drove the nuns nuts with my unending questions. i was never one to just sit back, absorb, and believe. i questioned incessantly, still do, i drive people nuts with my questions.

But i do think that section of Matthew's about not worrying took hold. Either i was born without the worry gene, which i doubt, or i took it to heart at a very young age, for to me worrying is a complete waste of time. It solves nothing.

i think most of us understand that worrying can cause illness. When you constantly think about what could happen it can interfere with your appetite, your relationships and your job performance. It can cause high anxiety and panic attacks, it can result in sleepless nights and a lot of distress. In some excessive forms, worrying can cause physical ailments like:

• difficulty swallowing
• dizziness
• dry mouth
• fast heartbeat
• fatigue
• headaches
• inability to concentrate
• irritability
• muscle aches
• muscle tension
• nausea
• nervous energy
• rapid breathing
• shortness of breath
• sweating
• trembling and twitching
  

• suppression of the immune system
• digestive disorders
• muscle tension
• short-term memory loss
• premature coronary artery disease
• heart attack
  

Those are a lot of symptoms that a chronic worrier has to contend with. Luckily there are simple methods to tamp down the worry gene. Meditation, giving up caffeine, relaxing, having a strong social network, exercising, worrying for only 15 minutes a day, wearing a rubber band and snapping it whenever you catch yourself worrying and recognizing that you are a worrier.

So like Matthew said in the last line: “Do not worry about tomorrow: tomorrow will take care of itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”