Worry steals our happiness & time

By Anne Mukei

Not long ago my two sisters and I had a hilarious moment when we all discovered that we share one common vice – worrying. We laughed our hearts out as each of us recalled how a small thing could trigger a multitude of worry.

One of them said she worried whether the corduroy trousers would fit her son come morning, or whether she would be able to wear the appropriate smile when she drove to work! The other one worried whether the black forest cake she ordered for her son’s birthday was good enough.

My sisters worry till they get a headache! I too am no different. I worry all the time even when there is seemingly nothing to worry about.

Sometimes I worry all day long, till I hit the pillow, but even then I worry I will not find enough sleep and that I will wake up tired. I realise that my bad habit is wearing me out.

I wish to live like a baby for just a day; to toss my issues, both real and imagined, to the wind. Once in a while, when all is going well like a well-oiled machine and I have no complaints regarding how the universe is treating me, I look back and wonder why I had worried in the first place.

Deadly vice

However like they say, no situation is permanent, and just like a thief, the worry habit steals on me, and I find myself deep in the throes of this deadly vice.

Psychologists say that one should learn to break this mental worry habit. It serves no productive purpose. You will be thankful for your wrinkle-free skin in your old age.

Easier said than done, but how about doing it for even an hour? A friend says if one makes it a habit, they may just exist in a worry-free bubble. She says that whether or not I worry that the clock is not moving, in essence, time is still in motion.

I hear that letting go and leaving it all to a higher power helps; that the secret is just being and watching the universe unfold just as it should.

Francis Chan in his book Crazy Love writes that worry implies that we don’t quite trust God is big enough, powerful enough, or loving enough to take care of what is happening in our lives.

That the things we are involved in are important enough to merit our impatience, our lack of grace toward others, or our tight grip of control. So today I choose not to control life; I choose to just be, and see things unfold in my life just as they were intended.