Anxiety. It ravages me from time to time. And you know what sucks? When someone points out that my anxiety is only caused by my fear of lack of control in situations that I needn't have control? Or situations that I really needn't worry about because they may not even come to fuition? Then my anxiety gets larger as I am frustrated with myself for wasting time trying to fix a problem I shouldn't fix or analyzing a situation that might be out of my scope of influence. Grrr. I am mad at myself even now even thinking about past moments of wasted time and emotion.
There are numerous causes of anxiety. Trauma from a past experience such as abuse or a loss of a loved one or an empactin event; substance abuse and the withdrawal effects; side effects from medical conditions; the lack of oxygen because of an illness or change in altitude; genetics; and even chemical disorders in the brain. Yet the number one cause of anxiety is stress. Let me give you things that are leading causes of stressors to see if you are included in this parade of anxious individuals.
Stress can be caused by:
1. Relationships - family, school, work, social groups, volunteer groups, groups you are not a part of but wish to be...
2. Work - success, progress, acceptance, promotion, deadlines, commute, whom you are impacting/impressing (see above)
3. School - success, progress, cliques, teachers, grades, weaknesses, whom you are impacting/imressing
4. Medical conditions - what can you do to prevent? What can you do to quicken healing? What can you do to recover? What you can do to avoid? side effects of medication. acceptance of the condition. whom your condition impacts.
5. natural disasters - fear of hurricanes, tornados, floods, earthquakes, fires, etc.
6. finances - not having enough, not saving enough, not investing correctly, not earning enough, etc.
Check out this chart from the National Institute of Mental Health:
Fear and Worry Statistics Data
Percent of things feared that will never take place 60 %
Percent of things feared that happened in the past and can’t be changed 30 %
Percent of things feared that are considered to be insignificant issues 90 %
Percent of things feared in relation to health that will not happen 88 %
Number of Americans who have a diagnosed phobia 6.3 Million
Top Phobias Percent of US Population
1 Fear of public speaking – Glossophobia 74 %
2 Fear of death – Necrophobia 68 %
3 Fear of spiders – Arachnophobia 30.5 %
4 Fear of darkness – Achluophobia, Scotophobia or Myctophobia 11 %
5 Fear of heights – Acrophobia 10 %
6 Fear of people or social situations – Sociophobia 7.9 %
7 Fear of flying – Aerophobia 6.5 %
8 Fear of confined spaces – Claustrophobia 2.5 %
9 Fear of open spaces – Agoraphobia 2.2 %
10 Fear of thunder and lightning – Brontophobia 2 %
Though you think you are not anxious, you are letting things take up space in your mind that are battles you are not to fight at this moment in time. Our God will supply all our needs. This means that He will give you the tools to accomplish each task AS HE WANTS YOU TO ACCOMPLISH THEM. If it is not time to tackle that task, than of course you are not properly equipped. Time to wait. Put that fretting aside. If it is time to tackle a battle and you have the tools at your feet, but you are too engrossed in fixing something that is not in God's vision for you at this moment, then you are sitting in clutter and idleness. You are not progressing, you are beginning to be covered in excess...which leads to anxiety because you don't know what to do.
Who is picking your battles? Is it God or is it you? Yes, God gives you a compassionate heart to see the needs of the world, but He also gives that same heart to others. You cannot do your job and everyone else's job too. You can see someone else's strength and direct them to the need that they can meet. Then there are two people being blessed as the need is being met and someone else is feeling useful, not to mention the satisfaction and release you are receiving because you are able to exert all of your energy and emotion into the task He has specifically designed for you.
One of our speakers at the recent teaching conference I attended spent a great amount of time emphasizing the importance of recognizing the strengths of those around you. When you have this database of the resources around you, it is easier to pick your battles. You can delegate the other battles that you see to those who are better equipped to have victory over them. Imagine the health of our generation if we simply did what we were designed to do! Less illness because of mental and physical fatigue caused by overworking... Imagine the progression of the Kingdom of the Lord if I, you, we did what we were suppose to do!
Let God pick your battles.
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