I may be the only person who struggles with this, but I don’t think so: anxiety and worry about the future. My life has been a little inconsistent and in a state of transition for what feels like forever!
Graduating from college, getting a job, moving, my family moving, health problems, etc. I could go on but I will refrain from making this a one-sided counseling session (you’re welcome).
These things in my life have caused a lot of worry and anxiety to darken many of my days recently. I feel as if I am in a waiting pattern for a time that I can actually settle in and be established. For the day I get married, or go back to school or buy a home or… you fill in the blank.
I grew up as a missionary’s kid, and so a life of transition is not unfamiliar to me. In fact, it is common, but that doesn’t mean it’s easier. When I moved to college, I settled into a great life there and really enjoyed the stability it gave me. However, when I moved again, I began to miss this consistency.
In recent days, my anxiety and itching for consistency seems worse then normal. The days of cold, ice, snow, and darkness have not helped. I find myself counting down the days until spring. However, I have realized that I cannot live my entire life living in a state of waiting — even for something as trivial as warmer days.
You may be thinking that this is another blog post from me about contentment. Yes, contentment has a huge thing to do with this, but that is not what I am writing about today. So please hang in there with me.
I was recently reading a blog post by one of my favorite bloggers, and she happened to blog about her anxiety during this time of her life. She posted about how she had to find some things that made her feel better.
It was a sense of a wake up call for me. There are things in my life that I could do to make my transition and anxiety better. One day I just stood in the sun for a time because it felt good. I have pounded more nail holes in my walls (something I don’t tend to do) to hang pictures; I have started attending a small group.
So if you are struggling with this in your life as well, do something about it. Pray and rest in God’s peace. Put in roots where you are. My pastor used to say, “Bloom where you are planted.” Well you can’t bloom anywhere if you don’t have some roots there.
The anxiety that comes with transition is something that too shall pass, and I often have to remember that. God will never leave us alone, and He knows that path by which we travel. I take comfort in this, and I hope you do as well.
“Think about Him in all your ways, and He will guide you on the right paths” (Prov. 3:6).