Gary Zimak offers advice to a caller on how to help an elderly family member who believes she is too old to change her chronic worrying habits.
Transcript:
Host: Michelle in Grand Rapids, Michigan, listening on Holy Family Radio. Michelle, it may happen that we’ll have to get your question and then do the answer after the break, or maybe we can get it all in; but in any case, what is your question for Gary Zimak?
Caller: Hi, Gary.
Gary: Hi, Michelle.
Caller: I’m calling because I have an 84 year-old mother-in-law who has been a consummate worrywart and high anxiety person her whole life, but it’s gotten progressively worse the last three years. She doesn’t have any health issues at all to speak of, but the worry and the anxiety has been creating more friction and stress between her and my father-in-law, and then of course the rest of the family. And she says that she’s too old to change. And I’m wondering what we can do as a family to cope with it. How do we handle it so that it doesn’t bring more stress and worry into our lives?
Gary: Great question. Just briefly, Michelle–none of us are too old to change, but I totally get what she’s saying; and sometimes those of us who might not tend to worry, or those people who might not tend to worry, sometimes they’ll say to people who do worry, “Well, you just have to stop worrying.” Well, people like me, we just can’t do that.
I think the key is to get that friendship going with Jesus Christ. And I don’t know what your what your mother-in-law does in terms of her spiritual life, but again, reading the daily Mass readings, going to Mass–if you can’t go to Mass, watching Mass on TV– something just to have that connection with the Lord, and of course you can pray for her too. And you do all these things, and eventually–and it’s a process, doesn’t happen overnight–things can change. I know of elderly people who have read some of my books–and I’m not just plugging my books, but they said it’s helped them–so none of us are too old to change. Took me many years to finally turn to the Lord and experience peace in my life, but it can happen.
Host: Michelle, also maybe you’d want to check out for your mother-in-law “A Worrier’s Guide to the Bible.” That’s a good place to start with Gary’s work, and then it just gets better from there.