Present and Future

He has given you Paul and Apollos and Peter as your helpers. He has given you the whole world to use, and life and even death are your servants. He has given you all of the present and all of the future. All are yours                                                                                                                                                            I Corinthians 3:22

I was speaking with a client the other day about some of her future fears, specifically a fear of chronic pain like her father endures. She too has some chronic pain, related to joint conditions which are possibly hereditary. She worries about this because she has chronic anxiety. This, of course, is not uncommon, but it should also not be discounted. People with chronic anxiety suffer. If they could simply stop worrying, they would!

 We discussed her fears, and I suggested that she work on behaving her way out of the anxiety, not trying to think her way out. What did I mean by that? I meant that there are certain actions she could take that might help to head off her dread of the possible future she faced.

Rather than simply filling her mind with fears of the future, she could take some present actions that could head off that fear. Note that I was suggesting that she act in the present time, the time she has currently available, rather than the future which she cannot control.

We talked about the exercise of swimming, which is gentle on the joints, but is vigorous in aerobic conditioning. The vigorous exercise she gets, which is also gentle on her joints, will be beneficial to her both physically and emotionally. She can take present action to control a dreaded future.

Living in the present is the key to anxiety control. As they say in recovery work, that concept is simple, but enacting it is not always easy.

Prayer: Lord, you control our future. Help us to take actions in the present that can help that future, Amen