There are five days of Think a Minute resources on this page, one for each day of the work week. Click the link for the Audio Player to play the file. You may view the transcript of the audio file while you listen by clicking on the Audio Transcript button. Finally you may download the audio file and script for each day by clicking on the button in the Download tab.
Think a minute… It’s been said: “A day of worry is more exhausting than a week of work.” In fact, the root word for worry is “choke” or “strangle.” Worrying chokes the life and strength out of you! Constant worrying strangles us emotionally, gradually taking away our hope and happiness. “If you don’t bury your worries, they will bury you.” Today and tomorrow we will learn ways to win over worry.
Remember: “Worry is the darkroom in which negatives are developed.” You are often expecting the worst, thinking of the various bad things that can happen. But this only paralyzes you, so you end up doing little or nothing at all. Worry infects you with the “paralysis of analysis.” As a mother told her children: “Worry is like a rocking chair: You can rock all day long and get nowhere.” This is why worry is a complete waste of our time and energy.
For one thing, worry makes no sense because you are trying to control what you cannot control—like the weather. Since it is impossible, why even try! Plus, to worry about something you can change makes no sense either, since worrying cannot change or fix anything! So simply do what you can do, and don’t worry about the rest.
Worry is not even natural. You would feel foolish if you walked around all day with an open umbrella over your head just because you are worried it might possibly rain later. Instead, you naturally wait to deal with the rain when it comes, if it even comes at all. We humans were not built physically, mentally or emotionally to handle more than one day’s responsibilities and challenges.
An important step to winning over worry is simply to choose not to be a victim. Many of the things we worry about come from the wrong words and behavior of other people—yet we feel somehow responsible for their bad attitudes and actions. It’s true that peace with other people is very important, but never at the expense of the truth and facts. If you know for certain that you did not do something wrong, then you are not helping the other person by always rescuing him and taking responsibility for his wrongs.
Remember, with Jesus in control of your heart and life you are a victor not a victim of other people and circumstances. So won’t you ask Him to forgive you for living your own way, and to help you start living His way? It is only when you have His inner peace and power that you can truly win over worry. Just think a minute…
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Think a minute… A woman worried for 40 years that she would die of cancer. She never got cancer and eventually died of old age. She wasted more than half of her life worrying about the wrong thing! Today we will continue our strategy for winning over worry.
One thing we must do is to simply “let humans be human.” In case you have not noticed, absolutely no one is perfect, including you. So simply accept the fact that every day people around you are going to make mistakes and be less than perfect. After all, they have to do the same with you.
You cannot fight the facts of life. Each and every day something will not go your way. As my grandmother used to say: “Who said life’s fair?” Because it’s not! “Bad things happen to good people.” We must learn to handle life’s unfair treatment and circumstances gracefully. Flow with life, like a river flows around the rocks and obstacles in its way.
For example, sometimes you may have to pay more than your fair share of something. Just do it generously and move on. After all, your relationships are much more important than a little money. Assume that you will probably get cheated in life about 10% of the time, and that you may lose about 10% of your possessions. Remember, they are just “things” that get old, rusty and broken anyway. Plus, you cannot take them with you when you leave this life.
Just as we need kindness and grace from others for our faults and mistakes, we need to give grace to those around us. Then we will not suffer nearly as much tension, stress and worry, but instead have deeper happiness and peace with others.
“Worry does not take away tomorrow’s problems. It only takes away today’s strength.” Winning over worry is an “inside” job. The battle is in your mind and heart. Jesus said: “Who can add a single hour to his life by worrying! Each day has enough trouble of its own, so live one day at a time.”
Jesus promises that if you do your best, He will take care of the rest. If you put your life in His hands, you will have nothing left to worry about, since everything that is out of your control will be in His control. It is an amazing deal! Remember, if you can trust God to manage the entire universe, you can trust Him to manage your life. So won’t you ask Him to take control of your heart and life, including its pressures and problems, so He can give you His inner peace and power to win over worry, no matter what you’re facing. Just think a minute…
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Think a minute...This is a true Russian love story. Nadya von Meck was the wealthiest woman in Moscow. But all of her money and fortune could not comfort her after her husband died. She then escaped inside her luxurious home and tried to heal her broken heart by playing the music she loved on her piano.
At the same time in the city of Moscow was a 36-year-old composer named Peter Tchaikovsky. He had no idea that his music had begun to restore hope and love to the heart of this lonely widow. Nadya felt that he understood her pain and feelings, and had masterfully turned them into the most soothing and stirring music she had ever heard.
But Nadya’s infatuation with Peter’s music was also attracting her to him personally. She learned from his friends about his interests, and later paid Tchaikovsky to write more music. Nadya, in fact, became his #1 supporter.
Over time she also became his closest confidant and companion who inspired him to create some of history’s most romantic music. For 14 years they found love in each other. In fact, Tchaikovsky’s passionate music was written for none other than his Nadya, the love of his life.
Then one day they suddenly ended their relationship, and no one knows for certain why. After that, neither of them lived long without the other. Nadya quickly lost her health and Peter died speaking her name. Yet their secrets live on in their love letters to each other. That is all we know of them. For 14 years they expressed their feelings for each other in letters. Amazingly, the famous relationship of Peter Tchaikovsky and Nadya von Meck, which produced some of the world’s most romantic music, was from two lovers who never once met face to face!
But the fact is real love must be lived “up close and personal,” not just in romantic love songs and letters. That is why God became a real person: to show His love for us “up close and personal,” so we could know what He is really like, and learn to love Him for who He really is. There is nothing more He can do to show us how much He loves us, and how much He wants to share His life with us in a daily personal relationship. So once and for all, won’t you open your heart and ask Jesus to become the Lord and Love of your life? Only then can His real love and power begin changing everything in your life. Just think a minute…
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Think a minute… 28 June, 1997 was the date of the famous Bite Fight between world heavyweight boxing champion Evander Holyfield and Mike Tyson. During the fight, Tyson completely lost control of his anger and actually bit off part of Holyfield’s ear! Tyson lost his license to box and paid a $3 million penalty for not fighting by the rules.
Hopefully husbands and wives never lose control like that in a conflict! Our marriage should be a harmonious duet, not a destructive duel in which we shoot hurtful, damaging words at each other. We must learn how to disagree and argue in a fair, constructive way that brings better understanding and closeness.
Whenever you and your spouse disagree and have conflict, here are six helpful guidelines to follow.
The first one is timing. If either of you is too angry to talk about the problem, then wait for a time when you both can calmly discuss the issue. Take time out, don’t take it out on each other!
The second guideline is to allow each other the freedom to say, “I’m angry” or “I’m hurt.” From time to time we all need to express how we are really feeling inside. Remember, our feelings are not right or wrong, but real! So we should respect each other’s freedom and right to express them.
Number 3, know why you are angry. Sometimes the thing that triggered your anger was only a small thing, but behind it is the real problem. And that is the one you need to understand and talk about.
The fourth guideline is to realize that your anger is the real enemy, not your wife or husband. So stay on the same side and fight together against the anger and problems that are hurting your marriage and family.
Number 5: Lower your voice, and you will raise the quality of your communication and relationship.
Last, but definitely not least, invite God to the fight. You need to ask Jesus to take control of your heart, since only He has the kind of real love, wisdom and self-control you need to actually use your differences to build a stronger, closer, more satisfying life together. Just think a minute…
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Think a minute...Watching the Olympics can be both inspiring and heartbreaking. It is easy to get caught up both with “the thrill of victory” and “the agony of defeat.” This is especially true when the world’s greatest athletes, who have worked so hard their entire lives, lose by only a fraction of a second! Even with all their years of daily discipline and training, they still must finish well! “Almost” winning does not count. No one is remembered and rewarded for what they “almost” did.
In the 2008 Beijing Olympics, both the U.S. men’s and women’s 400 meter relay teams learned this the hard way. They ran well for most of the race, but then just near the end they dropped the baton. One of them, Tyson Gay, who was the 2007 world champion in both the 200 and 100 meter dashes, left the Olympics empty-handed with not even a single medal. He can tell you about the agony of not finishing well!
In 2003, after 22 years of exploration, the Space Shuttle Columbia went on its 28th mission, this time with seven astronauts on board. They were on a 16-day journey into space to conduct important experiments. Everything went well and they achieved their goals, so they were returning to earth from their successful mission. They were just 16 minutes from landing… when suddenly the Space Shuttle Columbia exploded! Only tiny pieces were left of what was one of history’s most sophisticated machines and masterpieces of engineering. But the even greater tragedy was the sudden loss of those seven brave and brilliant astronauts. They came so close, only 16 minutes from home, but they did not make it.
It is not how you start, but how you finish that determines everything. In the most important matters of life and death, right and wrong, “almost” does not count! You have to finish well. If you let yourself be distracted or detoured, even just a little, it can end up destroying you! So don’t wait another minute! Won’t you ask Jesus to take full charge of your heart and daily way of living? He made it crystal clear that if you truly love Him, you will wholeheartedly live His way every day. Only then, with His help and power, can you be sure you will live well and finish well. Just think a minute…
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