Learning How to Stop Worrying

Worry, anxiety, and fear of the future are common, if not universal, human experiences. Everyone worries. Whether it’s your finances, your professional performance, the safety of your children, or the security of your future, there is always almost always something in your life that makes it difficult to stop worrying.

However, the fact that everyone experiences worry doesn’t mean that everyone experiences it equally. For some, worry is a passing thought or momentary blip on their emotional radar. While, for others, worry and anxiety are a near-constant part of life. When it becomes a persistent part of your mental and emotional life, worry steals your time, attention, peace, and joy.

So, if worry seems to be your perpetual companion, always whispering in your ear about all the things that might someday go wrong, what can you do about it? Is it possible to learn how to stop worrying? This article will answer this question by exploring the impact of worry on daily life, providing a list of self-management strategies for worry and anxiety, and discussing the relationship between faith and anxiety.

How Can Excessive Worry Impact Your Life?

Excessive worry keeps a person in constant fear of the future and things outside their ability to control. When ongoing, this state of stress and fear has the potential to negatively affect not just your emotional life, but also your physical and mental health.

Worry robs you of your present joy.

You were designed to live in the here-and-now. When worry consumes your thoughts, you are likely too busy thinking about what might happen someday in the future, or what might be happening somewhere else, to pay attention to what is happening right where you are, right in the present moment.

To illustrate this, in Matthew 6:27 (ESV), Jesus asks his disciples, “And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?” The truth of the matter is that being anxious and worrying does the exact opposite of extending your life. Worry robs you of time, pulling your attention away from the present into an unknowable, uncontrollable future.

Worry can complicate your physical health.

Your body was not designed to live in a perpetual state of fear and anxiety. Excessive, continuous worry can trigger the same hormones in your body as are triggered when you are in fear for your life. This stress response, when sustained, may put increased stress on your cardiovascular system, weaken your immune system, disrupt your digestive health, and cause difficulties with focus or memory.

Worry negatively affects your mental health.

Your mind was not designed to continually carry the mental burden of worry. Living in an ongoing state of worry may put you at a greater risk for developing larger, diagnosable mental health concerns. Anxiety disorders are characterized by excessive worry, while depressive episodes may be triggered or exacerbated by the pervasively negative mental environment that worry promotes.

How to Stop Worrying

With all this in mind, the question of how you can overcome worry becomes even more pressing. There is still a need for more research to determine the efficacy of any self-management techniques for non-clinical anxiety and worry. Nevertheless, many mental health professionals and anxiety patients have identified some of the following strategies as helpful in the management of mild anxiety symptoms.

Accept that you don’t have the power to control everything.

One of the most difficult things for a chronic worrier to do is to accept that some things are simply outside of their control. You can’t make choices for others. You can’t possibly influence every factor that goes into determining how a future situation will turn out.

There will always be situations in life that cause you to feel anxious, and you will often have no power to change those situations. Learning to accept and respond to circumstances beyond your control can go a long way to reducing the amount of time you spend worrying.

Be diligent with those things you can control.

The flip side to accepting what is outside your control is being responsible for what you can control. If you are worried about your performance at work, do your best to grow, learn, and stretch your abilities.

If you are concerned about your children’s safety, do whatever you can to teach them how to be safe. If there is any aspect of the situation you are worried about that you have the power to influence, don’t procrastinate or give half-efforts, this will only increase your feelings of anxiety.

It’s also important to remember that you have the power to control your reactions to things that are outside of your control. You get to choose what you do with those uncomfortable feelings. Instead of choosing to channel your discomfort into more worry, find outlets that allow you to process your emotions without getting stuck in them.

Keep your focus on the here-and-now.

When you find yourself unable to stop worrying, you can take steps to actively set your worry aside and return focus to your present moment and circumstance. Breathing exercises, ground techniques, taking a mental inventory, and body-awareness exercises, along with many other techniques, are strategies that may help you keep your focus where your feet are. Actively combat the thoughts that try to steal your attention, time, and joy.

A Biblical Approach to Worry

Worry, anxiety, and panic disorders have often been viewed negatively by the western church. Many even believe that being worried is sinful, reflecting a lack of trust in God. But C.S. Lewis, a brilliant Christian writer, made a different argument when he wrote, “Some people feel guilty about their anxieties and regard them as a defect of faith. I don’t agree at all. They are afflictions, not sins.” Lewis then goes on to explore the ways Jesus himself experienced anxiety in the garden of Gethsemane before His crucifixion.

So, what is the Biblical model for dealing with worry? Jesus’s actions in the garden of Gethsemane provide the best place to start.

Pray about what troubles you.

When the end of His life was approaching, and He was overcome with fear and worry, Jesus took His concerns to the Father in prayer. He cried out to God. He prayed about the deep cares of His heart. We can do the same. Whatever is troubling you, pray about it. Confide in the Father. Then, allow Him to speak peace to your worried mind.

Know God’s promises concerning your life.

It’s easier to stop worrying, allow your mind to rest, and just trust in God when you know His promises. Jeremiah 29:11 (ESV) says, “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.”

And, later, Romans 8:28 (ESV) reminds the believer that, “for those who love God all things work together for good.” No matter what your current or future circumstances, God’s intentions toward you are good, and he works all things together for your ultimate good.

Dig deeper into understanding God’s character.

Lastly, it’s important to learn all that you can about the One who makes these promises concerning your life. A promise is well and good, but if you don’t know the character of the one making that promise, it carries little weight. Dive into the Scriptures and read all about God’s goodness, His faithfulness, His provision, His might, and His love. When you know the Promiser, you can more easily trust Him to follow through.

Do you need help learning how to stop worrying?

As C.S. Lewis wrote, worry and anxiety are not failings, they are afflictions. So, if you need support to overcome the affliction of constant worry, don’t hesitate to seek help. When worry has been your way of life for weeks, months, years, or decades, change is difficult and takes diligent effort along with sound guidance.

Your local Christian counselor can be an invaluable resource as you learn how to stop worrying and start living with peace, joy, and freedom. If you need help getting free from persistent worry, don’t wait any longer. Set up your first appointment today.