The Worry Syndrome

Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. And hate... leads to suffering. - Yoda, The Phantom Menace.

Think about that list we wrote down earlier. It hurt writing those down, didn't it? Your body responded to the emotions of worry. Emotions have very real, physical effects on our bodies. You cry when sad. You smile when happy. Or what butterflies in your stomach for nervous?

Worry and fear go hand-in-hand. And that fear, that worry, has physical effects:

• Migraines
• Exhaustion
• Arthritis
• Ulcers
  

Losing sleep over it is the euphemism. Yet it's true, isn't it? You don't sleep well when you're worried. You feel run down, exhausted, drained. Then you start snapping at your kids and wife. Your entire body tenses. Every muscle clenches.

Lack of sleep cannot kill you. Lack of rest can. My brother decided once to see how long he could hold his breath. And for some reason decided to try this in the kitchen. So he held his breath. Guess what happened? Yes, he passed out - and smacked his teeth on the counter top. But he started breathing again. You see, it's physically impossible to die from holding your breath. Your body breathes on its own. Holding your breath requires an act of the will.

Likewise, your body sleeps on its own. You cannot physically make yourself stay awake forever. Eventually the body shuts down and you sleep. Staying awake takes an act of the will.

Worry does not rob us of sleep. It robs us of rest. Sleep refreshes the body. Rest refreshes the spirit. The spirit gives life to the body.

My great-grandmother lived into her nineties. As long as I knew her, my grandparents cared for her. They eventually placed her in a nursing home. My grandmother fretted over that decision for many years prior. She viewed nursing homes as place where you went to die. Because people simply stopped once they arrived. They gave up. They lost their spirit.

Worry crushes the spirit. And through that, it destroys the body.