{"id":11722,"date":"2020-03-17T08:48:53","date_gmt":"2020-03-17T12:48:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/?p=11722"},"modified":"2020-03-21T07:43:00","modified_gmt":"2020-03-21T11:43:00","slug":"let-go-of-that-worried-thought","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2020\/03\/let-go-of-that-worried-thought.html","title":{"rendered":"Let Go of That Worried Thought"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-1895 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/258\/2012\/01\/Letting-Go-of-Worry-Web-194x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"194\" height=\"300\" \/>So many of you struggle with worried thoughts. This is easy to do when times are uncertain and we feel a loss of control. But during challenging times, we want to live in God&#8217;s peace no matter the circumstances. Thus, we need a prescription for letting go of those worried thoughts:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>First, identify the thought behind the worried or anxious feeling.<\/strong>\u00a0Ask yourself, What am I thinking? What is my self-talk? Are those thoughts what we call catastrophic thoughts? &#8220;What if&#8230;.How will I&#8230;. What will I do if&#8230;&#8221; These worried and catastrophic thoughts will prompt more anxiety. Identify them.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Let those worried thoughts come. <\/strong>Don&#8217;t try to suppress them with thoughts like, \u201cStop worrying\u201d \u201cDon\u2019t think this,\u201d etc. The more you try not to worry, the more you will worry. It\u2019s like dieting. The more you try not to think about food, the more you do think about food. So like a wave on the ocean, let the thought come.<\/li>\n<li>Next, <strong>look at the thought and decide if it is true.<\/strong> Do this by judging it against God&#8217;s Word and rational thought. For example, \u201cI will never get a job or dig out of finances.\u201d Think, Is God on my side? Is He for me? Will he help me when I do all I can and there is nothing more to do? Does He promise to provide for my needs? Is there anything to indicate that when the economy turns around, I won&#8217;t get a job? Is this a season in my life that will pass? Basically, examine your thoughts and look for truth.<\/li>\n<li>Now, <strong>replace the thought with the truth of God\u2019s Word.<\/strong> Take that more positive, rational thought and think on that. Literally, change your thought. You have power to do this. You control the thoughts you dwell on and choose to think about. This means you can change those thoughts.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Trust God to be who He says He is, and do what He says He will do.<\/strong>\u00a0At the core of all worry is doubt. It is what prompts worry.\u00a0Trust is the opposite of doubt. Trust in God and in trustworthy people is what calms fear. We can trust God.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Jesus would not command us to give up worry if it wasn\u2019t possible. His prescription is to take those worried thoughts captive and replace them with the truth about His character and love for us.\u00a0Basically, we need to confine those worried thoughts and not allow them to wander into the waters of anxiety. Once confined, we think on good things.<\/p>\n<p>This doesn&#8217;t mean you hide your head in the sand during trying times. Rather that you acknowledge concern, but exercise trust to combat doubt. When you do this, it also helps you stay positive knowing God will turn the situation around to work in your favor.<\/p>\n<p>This season of fear and uncertainty, be a model of letting go of worried thoughts for others. Show them how it is possible to control worried thoughts and live in God&#8217;s peace.<\/p>\n<p><em>Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable\u2014if anything is excellent or praiseworthy\u2014think about such things.<\/em><strong><em>\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><em>Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me\u2014put it into practice. And the God of peace\u00a0<\/em><em>will be with you.<\/em>\u00a0<em>Philippians 4:8-9<\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>For more help: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Letting-Go-Worry-Finding-Contentment\/dp\/0736930582\/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=letting+go+for+worry&amp;qid=1584529586&amp;sr=8-1\">Letting Go of Worry b<\/a>y Dr. Linda Mintle<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>So many of you struggle with worried thoughts. This is easy to do when times are uncertain and we feel a loss of control. But during challenging times, we want to live in God&#8217;s peace no matter the circumstances. Thus, we need a prescription for letting go of those worried thoughts: First, identify the thought&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":419,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[925],"tags":[135,137,1504,2494,134],"class_list":["post-11722","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-mintle-mentions","tag-anxiety","tag-fear","tag-panic","tag-worried-thoughts","tag-worry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Let Go of That Worried Thought<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2020\/03\/let-go-of-that-worried-thought.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Let Go of That Worried Thought\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"So many of you struggle with worried thoughts. This is easy to do when times are uncertain and we feel a loss of control. But during challenging times, we want to live in God&#8217;s peace no matter the circumstances. Thus, we need a prescription for letting go of those worried thoughts: First, identify the thought&hellip;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2020\/03\/let-go-of-that-worried-thought.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Doing Life Together\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/drlindamintle\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-03-17T12:48:53+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-03-21T11:43:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/258\/2012\/01\/Letting-Go-of-Worry-Web-194x300.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Linda Mintle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@drlindamintle\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Let Go of That Worried Thought","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2020\/03\/let-go-of-that-worried-thought.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Let Go of That Worried Thought","og_description":"So many of you struggle with worried thoughts. 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Dr. Linda\u2019s fun personality and expertise comes through whether she\u2019s helping her audience stress less or make peace with their thighs! Dr. Linda has her Ph.D. in Urban Health and Clinical Psychology and is a national expert on mental health. She has specialized in the treatment of eating disorders, anxiety, depression and pain management. With 30 years of clinical experience working with couples, families and individuals, she brings her common-sense approach to people who want to live in positive mental health. Dr. Linda is also a bestselling author with 21 book titles to her credit, a radio host of the Dr. Linda Mintle show, professor, national speaker, winner of the Mom\u2019s Choice Award, a national news consultant, featured writer for Beliefnet and hosts her own website. Her academic appointments keep her abreast of current research in her areas of expertise. Her media experience includes seven years as the resident expert for ABC Family\u2019s Living the Life television show and regular appearances on network television and radio. It is often said that being with Dr. Linda is like having coffee with a friend. She makes the complicated issues of relationships and mental health easy to understand and applicable to everyday living. The ease she has with people, coupled with her clinical training and experience makes her a sought-after speaker on college campuses, conferences and special events. Whether she is doing a TV skit with Tim Conway or discussing teen violence with Queen Latifa, Dr. Linda will entertain, educate and integrate faith and mental health in everyday living. Check out her latest book Hope and Healing for Anxiety, a whole-person approach to eliminate anxiety. .","sameAs":["https:\/\/drlindamintle.com\/","https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/drlindamintle\/","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/drlindamintle\/","https:\/\/x.com\/drlindamintle"],"url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/author\/lmintle"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11722","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/419"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11722"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11722\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11770,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11722\/revisions\/11770"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11722"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11722"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11722"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}