Meditation and Worry

I'm taking a break from being depressed to give you a little insight into turning worry into something more positive.

Definitions from dictionary.com

med·i·ta·tion[med-i-tey-shuhn] - continued or extended thought; reflection; contemplation.

wor·ry [wur-ee] - to torment oneself with or suffer from disturbing thoughts; fret

Like you, I suffer from days upon days of high stress. My hair is turning prematurely gray, the middle of my torso is suffering from cortisol/stress related weight gain, sometimes I don't sleep. A lot of my stress comes from constant worrying – money, personal, family, school, community, world events.

My sister tried to get me to use meditation to help alleviate the stress. She even turned me on to Meditation for Dummies. I didn't learn anything – at the time my worry and anxiety level outpaced my dummy level.

Rick Warren, of Purpose-Driven Life fame, spoke on a DVD that finally explained meditation to me. “If you can worry, you can meditate. Meditation is worrying about something positive.” I've always believed in the power of positive thinking, but never thought about just dwelling on positive thoughts all the time.

So here are the thoughts I worry or meditate on.

Money – God loves me and will provide for my needs. (Luke 12:22-26)

Personal and family – Diagnosis does not define who I am. (Kathie Snow)

School and Community – Persuasion means to be polite and persistent. (Dave Blanchard, AADD)

World Events – You can change the world starting with your own life.

I won't say I've stopped worrying, but I don't spend all my time doing it anymore. I'm still overweight but at peace with it. I've started researching hair coloring options. And I'm sleeping better at night. Today, I'm worrying about the meaning of perfect peace.

Luke 12: 22-26 New International Version of the Bible

Then Jesus said to his disciples: "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. Life is more than food, and the body more than clothes. Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds! Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?