My sister-in-law is having a health crisis. I don’t want to write about her story because it isn’t my story to tell, but I do want to write what it makes me think about. When I face a problem or crisis, I used to deal with it much differently than I do now. I used to think of all the possibilities and worse case scenarios of what could possibly happen in the future, and I would worry about things that had not even happened yet. These days I still worry and have anxiety, but I am able to recognize when I start to worry about things that I can’t control. I recognize when I get ten steps ahead of myself and start worrying about things so far in the future that I can’t possibly do anything about them.
In AA, they talk about living one day at a time. It’s a pretty good idea. When I face a challenge, problem, or crisis, I realize now that I can only deal with the stuff that is right in front of me. I can try to take action with the things in the present moment. Once I do that, then I can move on to the next step. Otherwise, it becomes too overwhelming.
I just missed several days of work so that we could be there for my sister-in-law. I go back to work tomorrow. If I think about all the things I have to do to catch up, then it is going to seem like an impossible overwhelming amount of work, but if it just take it one job at a time, then I know that I will get through the work and will get caught up in no time. Life is like that. If I try to take on everything all at once, then my anxiety will overwhelm me and I will have a panic attack. Yet, if I just have faith in God and take that leap to just take one step at a time, then I know He will guide me through it all. It isn’t easy to do, but with lots of practice, I am getting better at it every day. Maybe one day when I am an old woman, I might come close to mastering it.
My faith saved me. May God’s peace reside in all of our hearts.
