Never Worry Again! Interested?
Photo by pedrosimoes7
Wouldn’t it be great if you could live a totally worry free life? Think about all the time and energy that you would save, and all the stress you would avoid. If you’re enrolled into the idea that You Can Control Your Life With One Thought, then I have an interesting lens through which you could look at life. Yes, you are able to choose your outlook on life, and it’s quite interchangeable on demand.
People tend to worry mainly about their money, health, and relationships. This seems to be a common trend among us. Some situations we can control (or at least think we can), while others we clearly cannot control. If we do our part, think thoughts conducive to happiness, and take actions along the same path, then we will not have anything to worry about. No, worrying is NOT productive in problem solving, overcoming an obstacle, or otherwise a contributing factor to living a happy life.
When planning, you are formulating the best course of action by utilizing your creativity and critical thinking skills. On the other hand, worrying is an energy draining activity that is associated with guilt, anger and anxiety.
When I say don’t worry, I am by no means suggesting that you avoid thinking about your future. By all means, now is the time to plan for the future. You can’t put off planning until later, because when later comes it may very well be too late.
Think of this silly example: You see your friend looking very much upset and you question him to see what’s wrong. The friend explains that everything is great right now, but he’s worried that it won’t be 5 years from now. Would you say that this is a ridiculous thing to worry about? I think that worrying about anything, whether it’s 5 years, or 5 minutes into the future is futile. Planning into the future makes much more sense.
Our conscious and unconscious minds are so interwoven, that it isn’t possible to completely block out thoughts from entering our mind. However, when we do become aware of a thought, our mind possess the power to switch channels to a better thought. When you catch yourself worrying, flip the channel to the planning station. Plan how you could overcome your obstacle, instead of stressing out and worrying about it.
- If you knew you had the power to choose, would you never choose to worry again?
- How would your life be different if you didn’t worry?
If you enjoy this post, I would ask you to please stumble, digg, and del.icio.us it via the links below. I appreciate it!
![[Post to Twitter]](http://www.alexshalman.com/wp-content/plugins/tweet-this/icons/tweet-this-small.png){kind=icon}
Posted by Alex Shalman in Personal Development, Thinking | December 11, 2007 | Digg | Del.icio.us | Stumble | Print | 16 comments
LinkedIn
YouTube
Twitter
Digg
Alex:
I am DEFINITELY interested in not worrying! I agree with you 100 percent that worrying is absolutely futile. Some people seem to think that if you worry act like you are, it means you “care.”
Worrying is a waste of precious energy and does nothing to enhance the situation that the person is worried over. For instance, worrying about the future. How does that change anything? Actually, the only thing it changes is that it brings more of what the person is worried about! According to the law of attraction, if you’re worried about money, for example, you’re putting your focus on the lack of money. That means you’ll attract more of the same (lack of money).
So why worry about it? Why not turn things around and take small steps in the right direction? Also one thing I learned that helped me reduce or eliminate worry is by taking action. When you take action, you don’t have time to worry because you’re busy doing something about it!
Great post!!! Keep it up Alex.
I like where you’re going with this Stephen
And it’d be interesting to see what others have to say about this subject.
Keep up the good work. You’re one of my faves.
i think this is a great article Alex. I think ‘worrying’ has it’s place in life. It keeps us from danger, a bit like the ‘flight or fight’ syndrome. My wife worries constantly, without getting anxious, about the different things that could happen in her life and she says it helps her prepare for every possible scenario in life so she will know exactly what to do if the time comes to act on her worries.
Thanks for taking the time to respond to the article Steven.
Question for you. Do you think it’s possible to prepare for every possible scenario in life?
My mom needs to read this! I do choose not to worry, having read the 7 habits of highly effective people, I choose to act. My mom says my not worrying means I don’t care!
Feel free to forward this article to your mom, and anyone else that you think would benefit from it.
Speaking as a person who’s had problems with anxiety and excessive worrying in the past (and sometimes even now), I know that it takes a lot of diligence to “flip the channel.”
I’ve been able to improve my mental health considerably by using some techniques from Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. One simple technique is to wear a bracelet or rubber band around your wrist. Whenever you catch yourself worrying, move the bracelet to the other wrist and re-direct your thoughts. This helps keep you mindful of your thoughts and it becomes easier over time to change directions.
To “Never the Same River Twice:”
Yes, yes, yes, that’s a great way to change your habits. This reminds me of what a pastor of a church from the midwest started. You can go here to check it out:
http://www.acomplaintfreeworld.org/index.html
They are doing exactly what you’ve been doing. Everytime the braclet wearer catches himself complaining, he moves the braclet to the other wrist! A fabulous idea if you ask me.
Wow, so many readers named Stephen! This is a great article, I am a big fan of not worrying. In fact, my wife is worried that I do not worry enough! heh
So many times I have seen otherwise rational people get completely bogged down by worrying about things that they cannot change. To combat this kind of debilitating thinking I keep this quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson on the front cover of my organizer, (it’s been there for years):
To laugh often and much,
To win the respect of intelligent people and
the affection of children;
To earn the appreciation of honest critics
and endure the betrayal of false friends;
To appreciate beauty;
To find the best in others;
To leave the world a bit better,
whether by a healthy child,
a garden patch or a redeemed social condition;
To know even one life has breathed easier
because you have lived.
This is to have succeeded.
When I think about this, any kind of worries become baseless and go away.
Thanks for your inspiration.
Hey Alex,
Long time no speak! GREAT post! My husband has a quote on his wall although I don’t know who it is from, “worry is negative goal setting”. I totally agree. As a mom it is hard to leash the worry sometimes but I am doing better at “letting it go” and figuring out how to be proactive instead of reactive. Thanks so much — I like the look of your new site! Gratefully, Jenny
Hi Jenny! That’s an interesting quote your husband has up, and it totally relates to what I am saying. If you aren’t moving forward, you are moving backward.
I’m glad you stopped by, I was just looking through my cell phone, saw your name, and wondered where you disappeared to.
Nice stuff Alex! To add my 2 cents, I think the key is as you said – catching yourself at the start of worry. It’s sorta like a balance between what Steve Aitchison is saying. Worry is not good, but the start of worry is a sign that something is wrong, a boundary has been crossed, time to do something. So your plan of switching immediately to planning mode is very appropriate, but not removing worry altogether.
Cheers,
Albert | UrbanMonk.Net
Modern personal development, entwined with ancient spirituality.
I agree that it is important, if worry should arise, to try to track down and analyze the source of this study. Such is the study of oneself. However, I also believe that once the source is found, or the realization that worrying is not conducive to happiness is arrived at, then it’s time for the next action.
Wow this was a long time ago when everyone was writing on this but I just started researching this bc it just started bothering me alot!
I am a constant worrier and it is very hard to change my way of thinking, I am slowly trying change this but like I said this is very hard…if I did the braclet thing, it seems like I would be switching the braclet like a million times a day that is how much i worry. I really drives me nuts, I want to go to someone for help but I thought i would check out the internet first to see if i can get some self help instead of spending $ on it………..can someone give me some more advise on this?
Thanks