For years I’ve used the example of the ‘worry box’ to get troublesome thoughts out of my head, rather than sit in a pity party or cloud of depression over some irritating block in my day or days. During my recent stay in the hospital, with a good book I discovered a way to go beyond the ‘worry box’ into uncharted territory. It was worth the stay in the E.R., and I’m wondering today, if that was God’s intent for me while there. Thank You, God!
At times, excessive worry kept me frozen in procrastination, unable to accomplish what I wanted, until I discovered a wonderful solution; The Worry Box, a way to help get worries out of the cycle in my head, so that I could move forward. I wasn’t ready to get rid of them; I just needed them out of the way until I could deal with them. So, I thought what about writing each one on a single piece of paper and putting them someplace out of the way. I would need to know where they’re kept, but didn’t need them running around in my head.
What a about an envelope or a box I thought? I settled on a box, but not just any box, it had to be special. Do you sense a bit of perfection here? I found the prettiest box I could find and put all of my worry papers in it and made an appointment with myself to worry on Thursday at 8:00 p.m.
When it was time to worry I took the pieces of paper out of the Worry Box, one-by-one, and discovered 9 out of 10, never even happened. I threw them away and worried over the one that was left.
So I began to share, that everyone who worries excessively needs a Worry Box.
Here’s what you do…
Find a really pretty box that you like having close to you. The size will determine your need.
If you worry a little and have a habit of writing reasonably concise; use a small box.
If you are more dramatic or have a big problem choose a larger box where you can put pictures and lengthy dialog; use the big one.
Designate a day and time to review your worries. Don’t worry about the item at all once you’ve put it in the box, until your designated day and time.
In time you will also find that the pretty box is still nice to have around but there’s no longer a need to fill it because you now know worry is a waste of time. Time stolen from you never to be spent by you. Redeem the time. Use it as the precious gift that it is.
Here’s the next step to deal with worry…
According to Dr. Henry Cloud,
Take a piece of paper and divide it into two columns.
In the first column, write down all the things you cannot control that are affecting you…Now worry about all of that. Hard! For about ten minutes. Then stop for the day. You can worry about it again tomorrow. It won’t have changed much”. That’s a worry box experience.
In the second column and write all of the things you have control over that is related to the “worry.” Then get your mentor or a person you trust to share and brainstorm so that you can take action on the things you can control.
This is powerful, because this gets to the root of the problem: control. The goal is to get off the things you can’t control and focus on things you can. Our brain drives behavior and can only do what it’s done before.
So the next time you get stuck, get a few people together to brainstorm and get new ideas and push through the old ways of doing things into success and progress into the dreams and plans of this life. There needs to be an ending to unfinished things, if not we don’t succeed or move forward. Push through and make changes to succeed.
There may be areas that need healing before moving on but the idea is to move it. What will it take to be unstuck, freethinking, and moving into your God given purpose?
I welcome your call to explore with you areas where you are stuck and need someone to know what you are going through and help you hold the pieces until you see which ones need to end and how to step into a new beginning.