Dealing with Worry and Anxiety at Work

Whether the troubles we discussed in recent months are unfolding dramatically or are still being held in abeyance, worry and anxiety may still be sticking its collective nose under your work tent. Ideally, we've spiritually matured so that such incursions won't throw us off stride. Then again, even if we've worked hard at building up complete trust in God, worry and anxiety can still be insidious interlopers.

Having made some progress here, I can attest to the importance of having tools at our disposal to address anxiety and worry. The biggest, and most dramatic, example I can come up with: the sickness and death of one of our children.

We've posted about this in the past. It's now almost 5 years since our eldest died from a sudden massive stroke. But, naturally, the very mention of this releases some semblance of the feelings that accompanied me then.

For almost three weeks, our son lay in a medically induced coma before he eventually died. During that time, I had to keep my business running. Indeed, I chose not to share with my clients what was happening. (I eventually did tell them after our son died.) So I had to keep at my daily tasks even as we spent most of the day at the hospital, somehow managing the constant anxiety that - as you might imagine - colored every thought, word, and action.

Did I turn to Our Lord and Our Lady? Of course. Did it help? Absolutely. But, still, the anxiety was not taken away. It lingered; it was unrelenting.

The fact is, even when we trust God completely, our emotions can be inflamed, even as we acknowledge with our intellect that we do indeed trust Him. I think it's just how we're composed, fallen human creatures that we are.

But every task was done well and on time. And it was a particularly difficult time for the business. We won't get into the specifics of that, but just know there have been less stressful times in our business than existed at just that time.

Since then, there's never been any bout of anxiety or worry - whether at work or in personal life - that could approach in intensity what occurred at that time. But those twins still make an appearance from time to time, and they must be dealt with in a manner that allows for the work to continue unabated, as it did then.

It's never really easy.

But whenever and however we deal with anxiety and worry at work, there's good that can come with it. Not that we're looking to be anxious or worried, but since it comes anyway, we may as well know just how either or both can be gifts - yes, literally gifts - from God.

The same holds for all forms of difficulty, temptation, and suffering. All these in some fashion come from God. How is that? Well, everything - EVERYTHING - occurs either by God's direct agency, or His permission. 

Sure, it's tough to understand sometimes. When our son was struck down, it took some time to sort out how God could have permitted this. But, thanks be to Him, I had, at that time, enough understanding and spiritual strength not to turn on Him and shake my fists. Frankly, I still don't really understand the "why' of it, but I've learned that acceptance is critical to our relationship with God. 

Oh, and one more thing we need to consider: Somehow, all unfolds not only according to God's Plan, but in some way for our good. This last point was and remains the hardest to understand. How did our son's death result in any good? Frankly, I still haven't been able to find the good, at least for those of us he left behind. 

If you've never dealt with anxiety and worry at work that comes close to the personal events recorded here, perhaps you never will. But even if the anxiety and worry isn't quite as intense, they still remain a challenge for those of us expected to produce our best work on time, and to do it for the greater glory of God. 

And doesn't that pretty much include all of us?

We'll continue our discussion next time, with a boost from one of our favorite spiritual guides. Until then...