There is an hour in the night that anyone with anxiety is familiar with. Its the hour you wake up, and despite still being quite exhausted, the ability to sleep has left. Your brain is on, the lights might as well be on, and there’s no use laying in bed any longer. This hour happens somewhere around 3 and 4 AM.
Its anxiety hour.
I’ve been experiencing this hour a lot lately. And so has my husband. But I’m not writing this to complain. I’m writing this because I know we aren’t alone. Weather its a job like in our case, or an illness, or a relationship or other causes, I figure, anxiety hour affects a lot of people. So rather than showing you my latest craft, today I’m writing about how I’m addressing anxiety hour.
First and foremost, I happen to know there is no cure for this hour. It just is. The best response when I wake and realize I’m wide awake at 3 AM is humble acceptance. Acceptance of the time, acceptance of the lack of sleep I will get that night (along with all the other nights I’ve lost sleep recently) and acceptance that my situation, remains.
Second, and most ridiculously hard is to remember, is that anxiety hour, anxiety week, anxiety month or even year will eventually pass. Situations come and go.
Things get better.
Or maybe things get worse.
And then time, friends and prayer helps them get better. We push on, and eventually we thrive because God allows us to thrive.
Third, I take comfort in knowing I’m not the only one facing anxiety hour. Maybe its my neighbor, maybe its my sister or maybe its you, but I’m not alone. Other people are where I’m at too.
Finally, I remember Jesus said throughout the Bible to let him carry our load. I’m not good at doing this. Even when I try, I still don’t feel like I’m lighter. But I figure this concept of allowing Jesus to carry my anxiety is a learned one. Perhaps thats what I’m supposed to be learning right now. So for the moment, I’m going to take deep breaths, and read scripture and try to learn how to allow Jesus to carry my burdens.
I figure a glass of wine doesn’t hurt either.
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