On my way to work this morning I passed a car with the license plate ‘Y WORRY’. What great advice! When you think about what it is, or means to worry, you quickly realize there’s absolutely no point – and it’s a complete waste of energy. Worry leads to anxiety, and stress, which can cause health problems and manifest itself in surprising ways.
So, why worry? The truth is no one worries about now. People worry mostly about what could happen, or what should have happened, but no one worries about what’s happening because they’re consumed in and by the moment. As usual, I looked to Dictionary.com for a more formal definition of the word:
worry (verb) – give way to anxiety or unease; allow one’s mind to dwell on difficulty or troubles.
The difficulty or troubles that most allow their minds to dwell upon are things that haven’t happened, and in many cases aren’t likely to ever happen. So, why worry? People just do. The reality is, some people worry more than others for unknown reasons, and some people don’t worry at all. (I’m sure there’s some scientific basis behind it which speaks to their upbringing, parental influence (or lack thereof), peer pressure, etc., but I like to think of it simply.)
As I thought more about worrying, the reasons behind it, when and how people do it, I came up with a few ways to beat worrying and get on with your life. I hope these ideas are helpful. Your comments are appreciated.
5 Ways to Waste Worry
- Think about something else, anything at all. If your mind is caught up in thinking about anything other than that about which you’re worrying, you won’t be able to worry. The human mind is only capable of focusing on a single conscious thought – fill your mind with something else and voila – you’ve wasted worry, at least temporarily.
- Get busy doing something, anything at all. Just like thinking about something else, this exercise will get your body and your mind busy elsewhere. I like to think of these first 2 ideas as redirects, or passive approaches to wasting worry. While they’re both moderately effective, it’s easy to slip back into worrying and lose traction in your life. Keep reading.
- Tackle the worry head on. Face off. Mano a mano.Sit down and write your worry at the top of a clean sheet of paper, for example: I’m worried my daughter will get made fun of at school because she’s in a wheelchair. Leave some space and answer the question – Do you have any control over the situation? Yes. No. It’s that simple. Either you do or you don’t. You’re in luck if you don’t have any control over the situation because my next instruction is to rewrite your worry without the worry. Be positive, and present tense. For example: I am confident my daughter will make friends at school who will appreciate her differences. Then write the words, “I am in control.” Say the words aloud. Ball up the paper and throw it away. As you throw away the paper, imagine your mind releasing the worry and your life without it.
If you answered “yes” that you do have control over the situation, it’s likely either limited control over circumstances, or complete control over your emotions. The truth is you can only completely control your emotions, so it will help to paint your worry in a positive light. Think of all the things related to this monstrosity about which you’re worrying. Now, make a list of 10 things that are positive, but which are directly related to the worry. For example: I am worried my family won’t make it to the next payday without using our credit cards. One of your 10 things could be, “I have a job!” Another could be, “We have food in our cabinets to last us until we get paid again.” You get the point. When you’re finished, post the worry and your 10 positive things somewhere that you’ll see it every day until the worry subsides, or you have to come up with a second list of 10 things.
- Breathe. There have been interesting studies done on the importance of proper breathing. It turns out, due to poor posture, smoking, lack of understanding, and various other reasons, most of us don’t take full advantage of the lungs we’ve been given. For those who smoke – you’re ignorantly destroying one of the most vital components of your human body. Shame on you. As you breathe, imagine your mind releasing the worry. Think of yourself worry-free. Relax. Meditate. Slow down. Too often our lives are moving at warp speed and have a hard time keeping up, and often trip over ourselves. Sometimes the root cause of your worrying is that you’ve allowed your mind to become consumed with too much. Breathe. Release a few things from your mental warehouse. Breathe, again.
- Have faith. Whether or not you believe in a higher power is irrelevant. Faith is believing in something greater than yourself, believing that there is a universal power available to you, for your selfish use, whenever needed. When you’ve worried yourself into a debilitated state, you need this universal power more than ever. Take it. Use it. Believe in yourself and have faith that your worst fears are only fears and aren’t likely to happen. Better yet, they won’t happen! Release your fears into the cosmos and rejoice in the positive potential of the situation. It can and almost always turns out better than you imagine. Your faith will get you there with less, little, or no worry and give you the peace of mind you deserve along the way.
