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Putting Things Together


Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. (Romans 12:12)

          Today’s homework in the Be Anxious for Nothing study deals with the idea of bringing together the “let your gentleness be evident to all” part together with the “the Lord is near.” One of the assignments is to list my worries for the day, then to consider how I can face them with calmness. 
          As I look at my list, ninety-nine percent of which would be labeled as trivial by ninety-nine percent of the world, several ideas come to mind about facing them with calmness. Some are good, some aren’t.
          Procrastinate. 
          Pretend they don’t exist,
          Predict failure and give up.
         Pray. This should be obvious, but how often do I overlook it?
         Prioritize. The first order of priority is one I learned from Stephen Covey in Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. Which must I do? Which should I do? Which would I like to do? Which honestly don’t matter? Next, a quick look at the scheduling priority. I have to do this before eleven o’clock. I don’t have to do this until after eleven, but before dinner, or it can wait until after dinner. 
          Participate … Act. One of the biggest causes of anxiety for me seems to be stewing about things. When, for whatever reason, I can’t get to work on things, when I don’t know what to do, or when I think the job can’t be done in the time available so why bother, anxiety builds. I clean in five-minute intervals because that reduces the stress because I’ve done something and if I’m consistent about it, I can make progress by doing it. Ten minutes would be better, but that increases stress. Do the obvious.

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