Anxiety: I noticed it for the first time when I faced the unrelenting academic pressure as a young adult in college and then again when I lived and worked in Manhattan.
I see it again from time to time as I reach out to reenter the job market after raising our kids.
It is tempting to just grab control of the reins and take any job to help meet our financial goals rather than wait on God and His providence.
So rather than force a solution to my current dilemma, when anxiety hits I try most of all to keep my eyes on God and His vision for me and my life.
Fr. Cameron's editorial in the Magnificat magazine this month talks about anxiety in the context of the Disciples' reaction to the Risen Christ.
"With the single exception of sin, anxiety is the greatest evil that can happen to a soul." St. Francis de Sales
It is a fear of the unknown--a fear of a disagreeable situation that is unforeseen and unforeseeable, a fear of future misfortune. It is also a worry of being insufficient to meet life's challenges.
I think that fundamentally, it is a lack of belief in God and/or a trust that He is with me in all things.
Anxiety is also a sometimes insistent and uncomfortable invitation to give my worries to God.
"Living in dependence on God means not being one's own master, not wanting to take charge of the world oneself; it means saying good-bye to the dream of autonomy and of being one's own boss, it means recognizing that we cannot do it on our own, and learning to accept our life day by day from his hands, without anxiety and full of confidence." Pope Benedict XVI
Praise God that I do not have to do life all on my own! ❤️
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