TRUTH . . . IS ESTABLISHED IN ADVERSITY

As you will most surely have gathered by now, I have worried in earnest for most of my life. I am sure I hold the British record and it is one I am not proud of. Worrying has done inestimable harm to me emotionally and physically, for the welfare of the mind and the body are undoubtedly linked. Even though my stressed condition caused concern to those close to me I could not turn off the anxiety.

The seeds of my condition are so easily traced back to heredity and especially to my early environment. I remember being warned of danger lurking everywhere. A trip to the swimming pool was likely to lead to drowning, crossing the road was always linked to being 'knocked down', and swallowing an orange pip could so easily lead to appendicitis, peritonitis and even death!

My wife does not know how to worry. She simply knows it is a pointless and unproductive exercise - we'll hear soon enough if anything has gone wrong. Thankfully she has been very understanding with my weakness.

I was clearly tiring of this pernicious condition when I confided the details to friends in Wisconsin. Their reply contained the helpful information that my worries were only thoughts and suggested I should remind myself of that when plagued by uninvited intrusions in my mind. All I can say is that the timing must have been perfect, for I found I was able to clearly see the truth of this statement and begin to do as my friends suggested. I sensed a new day was dawning in my experience. But gradually. If past experience was anything to go by there would probably be some deeply practical application ahead to firmly entrench this revealed truth.

//Continued