Something to Worry About

I read a story once of a man's unsuccessful efforts to housebreak a puppy.  Every time the  puppy peed on the floor, he would spank it with a rolled up newspaper and throw it out the kitchen window.  Eventually, the puppy figured it out.  Right after he peed on the floor he would jump out the kitchen window himself.

That story reminds me of how a lot of men are taught to deal with worry.  That is to say, we are not taught anything but how to jump out of the window before we get hit.  The essence of what we learn is that worrying is for women.  Men do not need to worry, because they are not supposed to be afraid of anything in the first place.  Fear is a woman's emotion and worry is a woman's reaction, so my son you had better keep your worries to yourself lest you be accused of womanliness.  In my childhood, and I sense it still the same, this is the highest insult that a boy can receive.  Interestingly, that is not so in the inverse.  To call a woman low maintenance is to imply that she is like a man in her lack of need for reassurance in the face of fear.  That's great, but maybe she's just a girl who learned how to jump out of the window with her brother before she got hit with that rolled up newspaper.

So Brothers, here's a four point plan for worry control:

1. Admit to yourself that you worry and you need to do something about it beside suppress it as a womanly reaction to a  womanly emotion.

2. Pray.  God does not want us to worry.  Jesus talked about it a lot.  He would not have done that if He did not know our hearts and want to help us.

3. Share your worries with the guys in your Circle of Trust (yes, this assumes you have such a thing, which is the subject of another day).

4. Put others first and act on it.  It is virtually impossible to worry about yourself when in action on behalf of another.  Try it.