Why Can't You Stop Worrying?

MSNBC.com ^ | 11-30-07 | Stephanie Dolgoff

[rlmorel]

Thanks. Good link...I have read extensively about the Pacific war, but had not known much about Peleliu other than it was a very nasty battle.

What piqued my interest was a book called “Breakout: The Chosin Reservoir Campaign, Korea 1950” by Martin Russ. The unbelievable conditions those men fought under, up to -30 degrees was stunning. But there were more than a few of those men who had fought on Peleliu in WWII, where the temperatures had gone up to 130 degrees during the battle.

Good God. To have gone through what arguably were two of the hardest military campaigns in US Military history...at the opposite extremes of the temperature spectrum...

I WILL appreciate my bed at night.

[blam]

"I WILL appreciate my bed at night."

Me too. We have a lot to be grateful for.

[proudofthesouth]

I’m a world class worrier and always have been. I can and have literally made myself sick worrying about possible scenarios. However, since I became a Christian last Spring my worrying IS decreasing. I still do a lot of it but am trying to turn ALL my worries over to God and and am
trying to trust him to handle everything. I can manage to do that for a few minutes or hours and am slowly working towards doing it for infinity. I say this prayer aloud at least twice every day:

Dear Lord, I’m turning over all my fears and problems to You to handle today. I can’t fix a single thing by worrying about it - but you can fix anything because nothing is impossible for You! Thank You for my blessings,
big and small. Thank You for Your loving care for me. Thank You for being in charge of my day. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

[Wilhelm Tell]

I might borrow your prayer. I also tend to worry a lot about things. The fact that I have been in rough situations before and survived does not help my attitude much. When I run into a situation that reminds me of something unpleasant I survived in the past, I think, "Please, God, not THAT again!" Maybe that I can imagine a worst-case scenario gives me a sense of control in a perverse way.

What really makes it fun is when you are being torn apart in situations in your life while you have to give support to other people. You grit your teeth, force a fake smile and muddle through as best you can. When something bad happens, I try to ask not, "Why did this happen to me?" but rather, "Why not? Why should I expect to be exempt from suffering when better people have suffered much worse?" Usually I am not so high-minded so I sulk and complain. I am against the "name it and claim it" brand of Christianity where some televangelist says God gave him a Rolls Royce because God likes his hairstyle. American Christianity in general glosses over the reality of suffering.