The Bucket of Worries

Let me ask you something.

If you took your biggest worry right now…
and dropped it into a bucket with 100 other people’s biggest worries…

Would you reach in and trade?

Or would you quietly pull yours back out?

I heard that question recently, and I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it.

Because at first, it sounds simple. Almost obvious.
But when you actually sit with it… it gets real, fast.


Let me bring you into my current reality.

Right now, my biggest worry is this:

In two weeks… I don’t have housing.

What I thought was secured fell through. And now I’m in this space of searching, calling, trying to figure it out—and hitting walls. A big part of that is because I have two large dogs. They’re not just pets—they’re my family. And finding a place that accepts them hasn’t been easy.

So yes… if I’m being honest?

There are moments where it feels like,
“In two weeks… I could be without a place to live.”

That’s my bucket.

That’s the worry I would bring.


Now here’s where the question shifts everything.

Would I trade it?

Would I reach into that bucket and blindly take someone else’s biggest worry instead?

No.

And not because this feels easy.
Not because I have it all figured out.

But because… this is mine.

I understand it. I’m already in it. I’m already moving through it.

And the truth is, there are worries in that bucket I would never want to carry.
Loss. Illness. Grief. Pain I can’t even fully comprehend.

So instead of asking, “Why is this happening to me?”
I find myself asking…

“What if this is something I’m strong enough to walk through?”


And then there’s this thought that keeps grounding me:

You’re worrying a lot…
for someone who has made it through every hard thing before.

Not perfectly.
Not without fear.
Not without tears.

But you made it.

Every single time.

So why would this be the moment everything falls apart?


This is the part I want you to sit with.

Maybe your worry feels heavy because it matters.
Because it’s tied to your life, your future, your people.

But heavy doesn’t mean impossible.

And familiar—even when it’s uncomfortable—is often something we are more equipped to handle than the unknown.

So instead of trying to escape it…
what if you owned it?

Not in a defeated way.

But in a grounded, steady kind of way that says:

“This is mine right now. And I trust myself to move through it.”


Where I’m standing today

I don’t have all the answers yet.

I don’t know exactly where I’ll be living in two weeks.

But I do know this:

I have faith.
I have resourcefulness.
I have a track record of figuring things out.

And I believe—deeply—that something is already aligning, even if I can’t see it yet.

So I’ll keep showing up.
I’ll keep searching.
I’ll keep trusting.

Not because it’s easy…
but because I’ve already proven I can.


Quote

“You are worrying so much for someone who has made it through everything before.”


Journal Reflection Prompt

If your biggest worry went into the bucket—would you trade it?

Why or why not?

What does your answer reveal about your strength, your resilience, and your trust in yourself?


Practical Tool / Challenge

The “Hold or Trade” Exercise

Write down your biggest current worry.

Then ask yourself:

  • Would I trade this for something unknown?
  • What parts of this situation am I already handling?
  • What evidence do I have that I can get through this?

End by writing one grounding statement:
“Even if I don’t know the outcome, I trust that I can handle what comes next.”

Repeat it when your mind starts to spiral.


Bible Verse

“Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you.”
— 1 Peter 5:7

A

Always,

CM

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