It’s true. I don’t like it, in fact I’m ashamed of it at times, but when it comes to those I love and care about I can compulsively worry.
I’ve had a lot of bad habits in my life and fortunately have been able to overcome many of them, but kicking my worry habit is one that I still have to occasionally check myself into ‘rehab’.
It’s taken a long time but I think I finally now understand that in spite of all my best efforts to control and manipulate circumstances and others to make sure all is well and safe in the world, at the end of the day, we can only do our best and hope and pray for those around us.
Being a parent drives this home more than any other area for me. Only now do I get a glimpse of why my parents worried for me at times. Of course it was because they cared for and loved me. And that is part of where mine comes from too, but I still struggle with the idea that I can control circumstances. As I get older the reality has set in that, in so many ways, we actually control very little other than our attitude and how we respond to the gifts and opportunities we have been given each day.