This morning I was listening to Zig Ziglar’s book, “Better than Good,” and he made a good case for why we can “wait to worry.”
He didn’t say “DON’T worry.” Why not? Because it sounds too hard and we won’t listen. We’ll worry anyway. I mean… DON’T worry? NEVER? I’m not sure I can do that! How can I NOT worry? Maybe I should just do my worrying right now and get it over with!
Except that I probably won’t. I’ll worry now… and again later… and then again later…
In her book, “Walking in the Dust of Rabbi Jesus,” Lois Tverberg explored Jesus’ Jewish background and how it would have affected His life and teachings. Jewish rabbis have a slightly different way of looking at things than modern Christians do. Christians will often take a firm stance one way or the other: It’s either good and you can do it, or it’s bad and you must stop right now and never do it again.
The Jewish train of thought was more about working toward the goal. As one rabbi said, if you can’t stop smoking, smoke less. It’s not about either doing it perfectly or giving up. It’s about starting on the journey and being committed to it. Doing what you can. It’s not about becoming discouraged and condemning yourself when you can’t do it perfectly. Nor is it about no longer trying. It’s about putting one foot in front of the other and moving forward.
Most successful and famous people didn’t wake up one morning and become successful. They tried, they failed, they tried again, they got knocked down again, they tried again… until one day they realized they were actually getting somewhere.
This is why I like “wait to worry.” Just put it off. You can do it another day.
And maybe, if you put it off, you won’t have to do it at all. Maybe you can avoid worrying without making the effort!
I remember Joyce Meyer talking about a man who decided only to worry on Wednesdays. By the time Wednesday rolled around each week, many of the things he might have worried about earlier in the week had already worked themselves out. So simply by waiting a few days to worry, his list of things to worry about was much shorter!
If you wait until you have all the facts before you worry, you might realize there’s nothing to worry about. Or you might realize that you still have a problem, but now that you have all the facts, you can make a plan for how to deal with it instead of worrying.
So take the first step and make the decision to wait to worry.