dozen or more times to control my thoughts. Just the other day I caught myself
drifting into worry over and over again.
Our daughters were returning home from a service trip in Peru and throughout
the day, I caught my mind drifting to thoughts of plane crashes, missed flights,
falling off a cliff in the Andes, bus accidents, lost bags, and the girls being stranded
at the airport. The girls were fine, and without the Rule I would have ruined my day.
Each time I caught my mind drifting to a bad thought, I would say to myself “oh
no you don’t...” and just point it to a thought that made me smile—like the girls
talking a million miles an hour that night in the kitchen as they told us about the
trip.
Feelings of Love Often Trigger Worry
Another thing that has surprised me about worry is just how subtle it is and
how fast it can seize control of you. I’ve been surprised by how often I start to
worry the moment that I feel happiness or love.
This spring, it happened to me as I was looking at our 17-year-old daughter. I
had this incredible moment when my heart just suddenly swelled up and I felt a
tidal wave of love wash over me. And then, without warning, all these worries
flooded into my mind and stole the moment. All I felt was fear.
We were at the mall. Sawyer was trying on dresses for her high school prom. It
had been a long afternoon. We were on our third dress store, and she had easily
tried on more than 40 dresses—and she hated every last one of them. Telling her
she looked amazing only made her mood worse.
I was in the dressing room with her, putting the rejects back on the hangers and
handing her the next gown to try on. I started panicking that we’d never find one
that she liked. I handed her another one to try on and said, “Let’s just bang through