Worry is a subject I know a lot about.

When I was a boy, I had a tendency to worry about my health. I was a classic hypochondriac. One night, about 3 a.m., I crept into my parent’s bedroom, went to my dad’s side of the bed and tugged at his pajamas: “Dad,” I whispered urgently, “Wake up! I think my heart stopped.” Without opening his eyes, he put his hand on my chest and said, “It did. Go back to sleep.” “Well,” I reasoned, “if Dad says it’s okay to go back to sleep, then I must be alright.”

As I got older, I still found myself worrying — until a counselor told me, “Michael, you need to stop worrying about your health. God isn’t going to take you one day too early or one day too late, so relax and enjoy life.”

You know, he was right. When we worry, we give our imaginations permission to run wild, conjuring up unlikely worst-case scenarios. And yet, much of what we worry about will never come to pass. Not only does worry not solve anything, but it often makes matters worse, wastes time and depletes energy. Worry doesn’t work.

A University of Michigan study said:

• 60% of the things we worry about are totally unwarranted; 
• 20% are past events and thus out of our control; 
• 10% are so petty they don’t make a difference one way or another; 
• 4-5% are real but beyond our control; and 
• 5% of the things we worry about are things we can do something about.

Dr. Charlene Walters says that when we find ourselves worried about something we should ask ourselves what actions we can take to improve a potential outcome. She encourages a positive attitude: “When we expect good things to happen, they are more likely to happen, and we’ll start to worry less.”

Jesus spoke about the futility of worry. “Who of you, by worrying, will add a single hour to his life? Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.” (Matthew 6:27, 34)  Doing away with worry can add precious hours to our life and help us enjoy the moment.

Another great word of advice on worry also comes from the Bible. Philippians 4:6 & 7 says, “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything; tell God your needs, and don’t forget to thank him for his answers. If you do this, you will experience God’s peace, which is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand.”

May God help us worry less, enjoy life more, pray about whatever troubles us and experience His peace.

* An earlier version of this article first appeared in the August 2021 issue of Best Living at Scenic Loop magazine.