What Do “YOU” Worry About?

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Young Woman ThinkingQuestion for the day: What do you worry about? or better yet, what keeps you up at night? My challenge is for everyone that reads this to share the one thing they see has their biggest burden or stress to overcome.

Our lives are filled with one stress after another, one worry, one problem, issues that just won’t go away! The burdens we allow to engulf our lives can take us to a point of physical sickness; even death. A recent study in the U.S. shows that 77% of people experience physical symptoms caused by stress. 73% experience psychological symptoms due to stress. Those are LARGE numbers! Nearly half of those polled (48%) say they have seen an increase in their lives over the past 5 years; so one could easily conclude that this issue is going in the wrong direction.

So what are the leading causes of stress? I’ll take it from #7 to # 1!

Starting us off at # 7 is sleep deprivation! People are just not getting enough quality sleep causing an inability to release adrenaline and other stress hormones. Ironically it’s stress keeping them from sleeping; what a trap that is!

At #6 is Media Overload. Too much television, radio, internet, email and social media sadly which is typically dominated by negative information. I know its hard but TURN IT OFF!

At #5 is poor nutrition. In this fast-paced world we live in many people find it hard to eat meals that are healthy. We turn to fast foods, loads of caffeine, processed foods, refined sugars and lord knows everything is loaded with chemicals. I myself have cut sugars out of my diet completely; I’ve lost 45 pounds, feel great and the things that use to stress me out, although still there, just don’t affect me the same. Diet is huge!

#4 is Relationships. Our country faces its largest divorce rate ever seen. Dealing with the death of a spouse, family member or loved one; arguments with friends; or mere loneliness; these are all relationship stresses that are plaguing our country. Self-centeredness has a lot to do with it; if we can just all begin to care about one another and sow love into the world, this particular stress would soon be gone.

At #3 is Health. Again this could be cause to poor diet, no exercise, or possibly an issue that is hereditary. Cancer and other chronic illnesses tug at our finances, our rest and our ability to have balance in our life all taking a toll on the health of not only the patient but their family members.

At #2 is Money; or as many would say the lack of it! With unemployment at record numbers, fighting to make ends meet is towards the top of the list of stresses. Factor in unforseen medical expenses, people trying to live on reduced retirement and quite frankly a lot of bad spending habits promoted by our culture, and you have disaster waiting to happen. We can’t all run off and change jobs if our income is too low, but we can seek the help of a financial advisors to help us with budgets, spending ideas and accountability that help to get us going in the right direction. Don’t allow your money to control you, rather position yourself to control it. It just takes a little discipline and effort.

And finally, coming in at #1; Job Pressure! This comes at us in all forms. Pressure from a boss; issues with a co-worker; work overload; or even that possible cut back lingering over so many people’s heads. I hear so many people say they don’t have a choice, but I am here to tell you life is nothing but choices! Take a change on yourself; possibly start your own business even if it’s part-time. Take it slow but remember, no job is worth your health. If you are not a lazy person , and guidance for God, you will find your true calling!worried-man

Some of you may be going ALL these things affect me and you probably are! First and foremost make a decision to reduce stress in your life. Utilize the Serenity Prayer: God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference. I have been using this now for about 4 months and I can honestly say my life is different! Turning what you can over to God and allowing Him to be your strength and resting in Him is a great place to start. Matthew 11:28-30 states “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” If stress is taking you out, you’ve got nothing to lose!

So I ask you, what is taking you out? What keeps you up at night? What is stressing you out? and if you have found a way to beat it, tell us that too! Please share! With enough of us sharing we can possible get the answers we need. Remember, we are all in this life together! Let us help one another, along with our Heavenly Father, find peace!

14 Responses to “What Do “YOU” Worry About?”

  1. Joanne Kaminski

    I have learned to go with the flow. Very little stresses me out, but today I would have the say my young kids yelling, screaming, and fighting are big stressors. Thank goodness the incidents don’t last long, but man they can be so loud sometimes.

    Reply
    • divineimpacts

      Joanne, Thanks so much for the comments! Boy I’m glad you brought it up; I completely forgot kids! lol I love my kiddos but I agree than can get on the nerves! Thanks again for the kind words!

      Reply
  2. Vanessa Terrell

    Great post and thanks for bringing up the issue that the majority of the population faces. What keeps me up at night is not having a job and worrying about the future of my family! You know even when I had a job, I still worried about those things…I think as a woman we tend to worry more. Slowly I’m getting better about and learning to put it all in God’s hands, that’s the only way to deal with it. Thanks again for this great post!

    Reply
    • divineimpacts

      Vannessa thanks so much for sharing. Isn’t it funny how a situation, be it one end of the spectrum or the other, such as having or job or not having a job, we stress out either way? Guess it’s just proof to us that alot of it is our attitudes. Thanks for your kind comments!

      Reply
  3. caroness1

    Health. I have MS and it is an uncertain illness. However, I have always maintained that without good health, nothing else matters because it affects everything else in your life -relationships, work, success, etc.

    Reply
    • divineimpacts

      Thanks so much for reply…For many of us health issues are out of our control, but attitude can be a great balancer! Sound like you’ve got it covered! Thanks for the response!

      Reply
  4. Donovan

    Another fine article! I almost stopped reading immediately at your request in #6! 😉

    All of life can work to stress us in combination. The Serenity Prayer is an aid to help from wasting energy or compounding the problems we already have to address. Getting back to basics like #4-7 is important for me. With clients, sometimes there is just one foundational area to focus on to gain a foothold at those times when it seems like everything is going awry. You have stormed the blogging world in the Ultimate Blog Challenge, Jeff. Keep it up!

    Reply
    • divineimpacts

      Donovan, felt like I was treading on your turf with this one, but I enjoyed it. Thanks for the continuous support and encouragement!

      Reply
      • Donovan

        We are always on each other’s turf, since all of this topics have to do with all of us! Everything is open when it comes to blogging. Great stuff, just keep it coming!

        Reply
  5. Julie Jordan Scott (@juliejordanscot)

    I wonder, does parenting fall under “relationships”? I would guess that is where I spend a majority of my “worry budget.” With a special needs son and a fifteen-year-old daughter I think that’s normal. Add in my melanoma in the last year… a bit of health…. but most of all, I take what comes in stride. Except for anyone hurting my children. That makes the barracuda Mom come out. :~)

    Very thought provoking article, Jeff!

    Reply
  6. Susie

    Great article! Relationships are the most important and most neglected areas of our life. We become comfortable and lazy when it comes to maintaining them. My husband and I are soon to celebrate our 30th anniversary. The first 5 years shouldn’t count because we almost killed each other. 😛 We managed to raise 2 successful adult children and are now the grandparents of 9 wonderful kiddos.
    I would stress to my kids as they were growing up that in order to have friends, you must be one first. To look for those that need help, reach out to them and to always put family first.

    Reply
    • divineimpacts

      Susie, great comment! Working on 23 years here so you guys have us but I totally agree with the “being a friend first” philosophy! It works….and what is it with those first 5 years?? Lol….was the same with us! Appreciate the post!

      Reply
    • Sally

      I do accept as true with all of the ideas you’ve peenrsted for your post. They are really convincing and can definitely work. Still, the posts are very short for starters. Could you please extend them a bit from next time? Thank you for the post.

      Reply

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