Many people in our culture today are weighed down by worry. Excessive worry is unhealthy, but according to Amy Simpson one of the most troubling aspects of anxiety is that it’s self-centered.
“If I’m worried about something, chances are I’m really self-focused. I’m focused on how I’m going to make myself feel better.”
Sometimes, we might even think we are selflessly worried about others, when we really aren’t.
“Maybe I’m focused on another person because I’m worried about them and I really want to help, but ultimately what’s bothering me is the way I feel about it. That is causing me to stay in that worried mindset. Which is a completely different perspective than focusing on what does God have for me today?”
When we are so focused on our anxiety and stress, we can be less receptive to what the Holy Spirit is calling us to accomplish for God’s Kingdom.
“What might God want to teach me? What do other people need from me? We tend to not only carry worry around like a weight, but we also allow it to put our focus on ourselves, and the ways we want to feel better.”
How do we change our perspective from one of self-centeredness to one of other-centeredness?
“As a leadership coach, I help people change their perspective and actually see a situation differently than before, and it’s actually remarkable how powerful that can be and how hard it can be for us to do on our own because we do tend to get stuck in our own ways of thinking. It can be so hard to change our perspective because when we think in certain ways we literally will wear grooves in our minds that will cause our thought patterns to continue to go over and over that same pathway.”
Amy Simpson is the award-winning author of and . She is a certified personal and professional coach for clients throughout the United States and enjoys coming alongside people to help them own their purpose, step forward, and live in truth.
Anxious
