Stop running away.

Stop running away.

An important lesson for your anxiety…

By now you've seen the memes, and some of them are really funny. You know, the ones about 2020 and how it keeps getting worse. And worse. And worse. One thing after another. Rinse, repeat. Rinse, repeat. Rinse, repeat. We could find out tomorrow that an asteroid is heading towards earth and that would be the most normal news of the year. 

Oh wait, that is happening...

The truth is, all of this craziness has led to a lot of anxiety, not just for those like me who have been diagnosed with an anxiety disorder, but also for people who have never suffered from it. I've been blown away by the number of people who have reached out to me over the last six months who are having panic attacks, racing thoughts, and sleepless nights for the very first time. They've found themselves stuck in the debilitating thought cycles and paralyzing fears that have become a constant companion to those like me, and they don't know how to deal with it. 

Maybe that's you. Or maybe that's someone you love. And you're looking for answers. Let me try and help.

I should start by saying that this is a complex issue with a complex answer. It's why I've written a whole book on it that you'll be able to read next fall. But that's a long ways away, and I want to give you something concrete in the meantime. So here it goes...

The common thread in a lot of this anxiousness is something you don't have to have an anxiety disorder to experience. It's fear. And it's fear run amok.

It's fear of what might happen. What can happen. What will happen. What won't happen. In other words, it's the tyranny of the "What if?"

What if I get the virus?
What if our country doesn't survive this unrest? 
What if my candidate doesn't win in November?
What if I become a victim?
What if I lose my job?
What if... ? What if... ? What if...?

Sound familiar? For many it seems hopeless. And you know what? Without a proper way to reorient our thinking, it's very hopeless. It's isolating. It's debilitating. But it doesn't have to be that way if we change how we're running. Running?

Let me explain.

Up until two years ago, I was one of five children. I had two brothers and two sisters. But in January of 2018, one of my sisters was killed in a high speed, head-on collision on the freeway that wasn't her fault. Her death was tragic, and her life was complicated. For most of it, she struggled with mental illness and addiction, a war she would continue to fight until the end. 

I remember during a particularly frustrating battle sitting down with her and trying to offer some sort of help, something to get her to see that she didn't have to continue the endless cycle. She had recently graduated from a treatment facility, but not long after found herself succumbing to the same addictive tendencies. Rinse, repeat. Rinse, repeat. Rinse, repeat.

As I looked back at the arc of her life, something stood out to me.

"Jenny, I don't think you're ever going to find real freedom until you stop simply trying to run away from something, and instead start running towardsomething," I told her. It was something I would repeat to her on many occasions. 

And it's something I've had to repeat to myself over the years. Think about that for a second. If all we do is run away, we'll always be tired. Our anxiety, our addictions, our fears are marathon runners. We're sprinters. We don't have the endurance that they do. We can run for a while, but they will always catch up, which means we'll never find rest by simply trying to outrun them. Instead, we have to run toward something, toward a place of refuge and protection, toward relief. Toward someone who can offer us rest and the weapons to fight back.

That someone is Christ. 

That's not to say that the secret to overcoming anxiety is found by reciting a few verses found on side of a T.J. Maxx coffee mug. No, it's much more complicated than that. And anxiety is not just a spiritual issue, it's also a physical one, which is why I take medication and work hard to take care of my body. But what I am saying is that I find the most relief when I am not running but pursuing. When I am not fleeing but following. When I am not just grasping for relief, but grasping for the reliever. 

Friend, if you change the way you're running, if you change the reason you're running, if you change the goal of why you're running, I think you'll find that your anxiety starts to have less power over you. Your fears start to flicker. The relief that was once elusive becomes possible. 

Try it. And if I'm wrong, well, there's always that asteroid...

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