Listen, I am a chronic over-thinker. I can make myself miserable about something that, when I actually do it, is not a big deal—not even remotely. This year, I’ve kept the following quotes in mind for moments of decision paralysis or anxiety. When I am unsure how to proceed or feel “stuck,” I let the wisdom of these quotes comfort and motivate me:
1. “Hope, and keep busy.”
In Little Women by Louisa May Alcott, Marmee advises her four daughters to stay diligent in their work, no matter what. While Marmee is certainly no taskmaster, ensuring that her children enjoy leisure time, she recognizes that one of the best ways to overcome worry is through useful labor.
When Marmee must leave her daughters to tend her injured husband (a Civil War chaplain), she departs with these wise words: “I am anxious that you should take this trouble rightly. Don’t grieve and fret when I am gone, or think that you can comfort yourselves by being idle, and trying to forget. Go on with your work as usual, for work is a blessed solace. Hope, and keep busy; and, whatever happens, remember that you can never be fatherless.”
Her primary anxiety was that her daughters would keep up with their work—the antidote to anxiety. She is also concerned that they will attempt to self-soothe through idleness and that this will make matters worse. Sound familiar?
Hope, reader. Stay hopeful and stay active.
2. “Thinking has often made me sad, but doing never has.”
This is my paraphrase of the following lines from Elizabeth Gaskell’s North and South: “Thinking has, may a time, made me sad, darling; but doing never did in all my life. My theory is a sort of parody on the maxim of ‘Get money, my son, honestly if you can; but get money.’ My precept is, ‘Do something, my sister, do good if you can; but, at any rate, do something.’”
This novel is riddled with lazy, apathetic characters. It is, frankly, an aggravating read. At the same time, though, it is one of my favorite books of 2024 thus far. North and South presents the danger of self-indulgence and self-pity, contrasting these with the blessings of exertion, service, productivity, and resilience.
North and South, although written in the particular context of industrialized England, has much to say that would benefit modern readers. Our culture, seeking to correct the idols of constant bustle and avarice, has swung too far in the other direction. We now justify withdrawal and laziness in the name of “self-care,” but find that these makes us feel worse as they give us more time to stew in isolation. Instead, while we shouldn’t forsake proper rest, we would do better to care for ourselves (and others) through usefulness and service.
3. “Heed not thy feelings, do thy work.”
George MacDonald offers this beautiful comfort for a troubled soul (for bonus comfort, read this in a Scottish accent):
“God loves thee whether thou feelest or not. Thou canst not love when thou wilt, but thou art bound to fight the hatred in thee to the last. He changes not because thou changes.Nay, he has a special tenderness of love towards thee for that thou art in the dark and hast no light, and his heart is glad when thou dost arise and say, ‘Thou art my God. I am thy child. Forsake me not.’ Then fold the arms of thy faith, and wait in quietness until light goes up in thy darkness. Fold the arms of thy faith, but not of thy Action: think of something that thou ought to do, and go and do it, if it be but the sweeping of a room, the preparing of a meal, or a visit to a friend. Heed not thy feelings; do thy work.”
MacDonald is not saying to abandon your faith when your feelings are not rising to the occasion. Rather, he is assuring readers that God remains loving and faithful regardless of our emotions in the moment. When we are worrisome, God remains steady. If we really believe this, we can act faithfully whether or not our feelings show up to the party. We can pick something from our to-do list and tackle it; we can carry on with our work, trusting that God is yet with us. And, moreover, as we carry on with our work, it’s likely that we will feel better, for work forces us to look beyond our thoughts and emotions as we tend our homes, feed our bodies, and serve our neighbors.
This is, oddly, one reason I love laundry. (No, seriously!) Whenever I feel panicky about the tasks before me or cannot decide where to start my work, I sort or swap or fold or put away a load of laundry. Like MacDonald says, my work does not need to be some momentous accomplishment. Something as simple as sweeping the floor or preparing a meal can be enough to restore us to our senses and help us wait out periods of emotional darkness.
4. “A day at a time is long enough to sustain one’s faith; the next day will have its own cares.”
As if I needed another reason to love Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s Life Together, this quote is a daily consolation. A life of faithfulness cannot be lived all in one day. Rather, faithfulness is comprised of small decisions over the course of a lifetime—moment by moment, day by day. This means that, at the end of each day, I can lay aside my labor and trust that God will see me through the next day as well.
Jesus says much the same thing when he asks, “And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? If then you are not able to do as small a thing as that, why are you anxious about the rest?” (Lk. 12:25-26). We are not made to have unlimited time—not yet, anyway. We are created to take life day by day.
Be faithful today. Tackle tomorrow—well, tomorrow.
5. “Leave all results, do the next thing.”
Elisabeth Elliot made the refrain of this old poem popular:
“Many a questioning, many a fear,
Many a doubt, hath its quieting here.
Moment by moment, let down from Heaven,
Time, opportunity, and guidance are given.
Fear not tomorrows, child of the King,
Trust them with Jesus, do the next thing
Do it immediately, do it with prayer;
Do it reliantly, casting all care;
Do it with reverence, tracing His hand
Who placed it before thee with earnest command.
Stayed on Omnipotence, safe ‘neath His wing,
Leave all results, do the next thing.”
While I’ve only included two stanzas, the full poem can be accessed here. Again, we cannot fit a lifetime of faithfulness into a single moment or day. To try to do so is to set ourselves up for panic and paralysis. Instead, we can only ever do the next thing and trust the Lord to manage the results.
Read the next chapter. Fold the next shirt. Attend the next small group. Sing the next song. Trust that the Lord will bring your small labors to fruition. As Jerry Bridges writes in The Discipline of Grace, We can only plant and tend, after all. It’s up to God to give life and growth.
Conclusion
I hope these quotes encourage you as much as they have me. Even better, maybe they inspire you to read their original sources and enjoy their nourishment more fully. If you have a quote that helps you combat overthinking or anxiety, I would love to read it! Please send it to me using the contact form below:
Ryanne Molinari 