How to stop worrying this Year -My New Year’s Resolution
“…because we do not carry
Everything to God in prayer!”
We often tend to tackle all our problems ourselves. That obnoxious cocky attitude- “ I know how things work. I can do it myself. I don’t need anyone’s help.”; that is something which all those ‘he-men’ share.
Well, we might exclaim that solving our trifles ourselves, make us more independent and resilient. They make us strong from within.
They help us to understand the reality of life, “At the end of the day, I am responsible for myself, for my feelings and for the results I get. No one else takes, and will take, my responsibility, for I am a grown up now.”
Solving problems ourselves is good. In fact, it’s great. We become a better version of ourselves. That situation of discomfort brings out the best in us. It fosters our self-esteem. It makes us ‘comfortable in the uncomfortable.’
But wait,
Are we facing reality or living in a fantasy?
CESAR CHÁVEZ quotes-
“ You are never strong enough that you don’t need help”
Not all the situations are in our control. There are times when you and me — after leaving no stone unturned to combat the circumstances — can only patiently wait for the storm to pass.
You can’t control situations which are inevitable. That’s why they are inevitable. See? Even if you try to do so, you ought to harm yourself or your loved ones.
Sometimes, these situations seem to be so overweight that people tend to find the easier way out to alleviate their pains — Death. It’s so easy, no? Just one blow and over!
Not even a second thought? What about them — your loved ones; your children, husband, wife, parents? Don’t they deserve your adorable presence, your heart-warming affection?
So, is this the ultimate and the only solution?
Well, here’s a true story of a woman who had to find it the hard way to realize one of the eternal verities of life.
“ During the depression, my husband’s average salary was eighteen dollars a week. Many a time we didn’t have even that because he didn’t get paid when he was ill — and that was often.
We lost the little house that we had built. Under heavy debts, we fed our children and did the best we can.
I took in washing and ironing from the neighbours, and bought second-hand clothes from Salvation Army store, for my children to wear. I was making myself ill with worry. Interminably worrying about our present condition, and relentlessly fretting about future deteriorated my health and well-being.
One day the grocer to whom we owed fifty dollars accused my eleven-year-old son of stealing a couple of pencils. My son wept as he told me about it.
I knew he was honest and sensitive — and I knew he had been humiliated. That was the straw that broke my back.
I thought of all the misery we have endured, and I couldn’t see any hope for future. I temporarily became insane.
I shut off my washing machine, took my little five year old daughter into the bedroom, and plugged up the windows and cracks with paper and rags. I turned on the gas heater we had in the bedroom -and didn’t light it.
As I laid down besides my daughter on the bed, my little girl said to me, “ Mommy this is funny -we just got up a little while ago!” But I said, “ Never mind, we’ll take a little nap.”
Then I closed my eyes listening to the gas escape from the heater. I shall never forget the smell of the gas…
Suddenly, I heard music. I had forgotten to turn the radio off in the kitchen. It didn’t matter now. But the music kept on and, say it by sheer luck or anything, I heard someone singing an old hymn:
What a Friend we have in Jesus,
All our sins and griefs to bear!
What a privilege to carry
Everything to God in prayer.
Oh, what peace we often forfeit
Oh, what needless pains we bear
All because we do not carry
Everything to God in prayer!
I made a tragic mistake. I had tried to fight all my terrible battles alone. I had not taken everything to God in prayer…
I pumped up, turned off the gas, opened the door, and raised the windows.
I wept and prayed that whole day; prayed not for help but to thank God for the blessings. He had given me five splendid children: all healthy and strong in body and mind. I promised God that never again would I prove so ungrateful. And I have kept that promise.
Today, all my children are grown up and married; I have three fine grandchildren. Even today, when I look back at that terrible day, I thank God over and over that I “woke up” in time.
What joys I would have missed and how many wonderful years I would have forfeited forever, had I not “woke up” on time.”
The newest of all sciences — psychiatry — is teaching what Jesus taught. Why? Because psychiatrists realize that prayer and strong religious faith will banish worries, the anxieties, the strains and the fears that cause more the half of our ills.
They are not urging us to lead religious lives to avoid the hell-fires in the next world, but they are urging us to pray to God to avoid hell-fires of stomach ulcers, alopecia, nervous breakdowns, and insanity.
“ I am an atheist. I don’t believe in God. Science is able to explain most of the phenomena on this planet. Pray to God, and all your pain, anguish and misery vanishes! Crap.”
Well, I am no one to ask as to whether there is any “supreme power” or not. This has been a futile conflict, from years, among people of varied perspectives, expertise and backgrounds.
But, if we don’t understand the power of praying and having faith in some higher power which created us all — when even the psychiatrists have confirmed it, then, unfortunately, we must reconsider the fundamentals of our very own existence on this planet.
Praying to God releases our tensions. It vanishes or at least lessens our worries and anxiety to a large extent. There are thousands of stories which, time and again, have quoted the importance of belief in some kind of supreme power- which has greater control over situations which are beyond our control.
So next time, when you’re in pain tormented by the life’s troubles, why not remember him. Why not pour out your heart to him. Why not thank him for all the blessings you have. Why not be grateful for this body, this life, this beautiful planet?
What will this do?
Solve your problem?
Sadly NO!
But, you will still feel free and unbothered. You will be more serene. Your nerves will be relaxed. Your mind will be clear. You can now think more logically about your problem, analyse it and work for it with a positive mindset.
Or you can still feel sad about your problems and fret about them. Eventually, worry will grab you. It’ll do nothing but make you more tensed and queasy.
Your pain will accrue gradually. Worry and anguish will come to your body over time. Stomach ulcers, hypertension, baldness and what not! All these will be your neighbours. You will boil in worry; and to release all that anxiety, you will, unfortunately, take that final ultimate step.
The choice is yours…
P.S.- I found these words so beguiling that they ought to be quoted at least once more to give this article a just conclusion ;)
What a Friend we have in Jesus,
All our sins and griefs to bear!
What a privilege to carry
Everything to God in prayer.
Oh, what peace we often forfeit
Oh, what needless pains we bear
All because we do not carry
Everything to God in prayer!
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