WACKY WEDNESDAY WISDOM: Getting Rid of Anxiety in a Flash

     I will warn you in advance that this column is rated PG and includes bathroom humor. Or at least bathroom references, humor notwithstanding. It also includes numerous references to our family dog Flash, who has appeared in several of these posts over the years and continues to be the most requested member of our family as it pertains to updates.
     As you may remember, Flash likes to sleep, chase squirrels, drink from toilets, lick my middle son's face, and counter surf- which is when canines raise up on their hind legs and eat food off the counter that was intended for human consumption. As far as dislikes, she has a negative attitude toward hard dog biscuits, being outside during rain, delivery men (or women), Jehovah's Witnesses, or anybody else who shows up at our door unannounced.
     But the thing she seems to like the least (or hate the most) is going to the vet. She cooperates fully until the part where one of us puts her on the leash and starts walking her toward the front door of the vet building. She goes into resistance mode as soon as we hit the cement walkway. Recently something else hit the cement walkway as she approached the front door. Flash chose that moment to relieve herself (not number 1, but number 2) on the sidewalk, which is not her usual habit.
     She knows better. I thought she did it out of rebellion or as a protest, but since that point, I have come to realize that anxiety was likely the reason because she has repeated that same procedure on several occasions since then, and each of them involved situations where she was nervous.
     She did it on our cement driveways after an unsuccessful chase of a squirrel and again after she treed a stray cat that wandered into our yard. She did it on the cement when a neighbor dog invaded her turf and stayed longer than it should have in our yard. She did it on the cement when she hurt her foot chasing something or another and started limping immediately afterward. She's a nervous Nellie and she tends to handle her nerves by suddenly forgetting how to control her bowels.
     I feel for the poor dog. I can only imagine how that must feel physically and emotionally. I suspect there must be an embarrassment factor even if you are an animal and not a human being.
     Though losing control of my bowels when I experience anxiety has never been one of my issues (I have many but that's not one of them), I will admit that anxiety has affected me both physically and emotionally during my lifetime. It has caused me not to be able to eat at times and at other times has led me to eat too much. Anxiety has caused me to utter words I didn't really mean and at other times has led me to remain silent when I should have spoken up.
     Anxiety has caused me to lose sleep at night, while leading me to feel unenergetic and unmotivated during the daytime. It has caused me headaches, stomach aches, and heartaches. I don't like anxiety. It serves no practical positive purpose, but certainly creates plenty of negatives.
     The Bible reminds us in Philippians 4:6 to "not be anxious about anything, but in all situations, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God." I know there are degrees of anxiety, worry, and concern. I don't think God is saying I shouldn't care or be prepared or concerned about things, I think He's saying I should share my worries with Him and then let Him take care of them instead of me stressing my life away and allowing anxiety to distract and consume me.
     1 Peter 5:6 says I should cast my anxiety on Him. Wow, that's quite a concept. I kinda get the picture of grabbing my fishing rod and baiting up the hook with all my anxiety and casting it off into the distance where God is waiting to deal with it. As long as I don't try to reel it back in, it can't sting me like the catfish I caught recently did.
     I wish I could teach Flash how to cast her anxieties on the Lord instead of on the cement, but she is still a work in progress. In the meantime, we'll keep the scooper ready.