Have you had a child, or perhaps an older relative, do this? They notice a sore on their arm or leg and they sit there and pick at it over and over until suddenly they hold out the offending appendage and cry, "Look! It's bleeding!!"
"Of course it's bleeding!" you want to shout back at them. After all, they are the primary reason for that.
We are a complaining people, but if something is bothering you, if it nags at you again and again and again, maybe the fault is your own. Maybe you've sat there picking at it in your mind, over and over, until it finally bleeds. Now you have something real to worry about.
I do realize that all anxiety is not quite that simple. Some of us do have issues in that regard. But others just can't seem to leave well enough alone. Nothing suits us until the blood flows. And that is exactly the basis for all whining and complaining, for if it is truly something serious that is worth discussing and being concerned about, something you can actually fix, then that's what you do—fix it. And that is far less satisfying to some people than seeing a problem worsen by constantly picking at it.
We don't just do this to others. We often do it to ourselves, wondering "what if" until all possibilities have been exhausted and then starting over again. Pick, pick, pick.
You know what the vet does when a dog has a sore spot or a surgery incision or something else he is likely to lick and worry at all day? He puts a plastic cone around the dog's neck, the "cone of shame" some have taken to calling it humorously. Maybe we need one of those too. Leave it alone. If it takes picking at to make it bleed, it probably isn't that serious to begin with.
Put an imaginary cone around your neck today. Christ came to give us peace. We will never have it until we stop all the picking.
Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honorable, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. The things which ye both learned and received and heard and saw in me, these things do: and the God of peace shall be with you. (Phil 4:8-9).
Dene Ward
"Of course it's bleeding!" you want to shout back at them. After all, they are the primary reason for that.
We are a complaining people, but if something is bothering you, if it nags at you again and again and again, maybe the fault is your own. Maybe you've sat there picking at it in your mind, over and over, until it finally bleeds. Now you have something real to worry about.
I do realize that all anxiety is not quite that simple. Some of us do have issues in that regard. But others just can't seem to leave well enough alone. Nothing suits us until the blood flows. And that is exactly the basis for all whining and complaining, for if it is truly something serious that is worth discussing and being concerned about, something you can actually fix, then that's what you do—fix it. And that is far less satisfying to some people than seeing a problem worsen by constantly picking at it.
We don't just do this to others. We often do it to ourselves, wondering "what if" until all possibilities have been exhausted and then starting over again. Pick, pick, pick.
You know what the vet does when a dog has a sore spot or a surgery incision or something else he is likely to lick and worry at all day? He puts a plastic cone around the dog's neck, the "cone of shame" some have taken to calling it humorously. Maybe we need one of those too. Leave it alone. If it takes picking at to make it bleed, it probably isn't that serious to begin with.
Put an imaginary cone around your neck today. Christ came to give us peace. We will never have it until we stop all the picking.
Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honorable, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. The things which ye both learned and received and heard and saw in me, these things do: and the God of peace shall be with you. (Phil 4:8-9).
Dene Ward
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