What Do You Worry About?

As a species, we have really perfected the art of worrying. We worry about everything tiny detail, as if worrying about it will lessen the blow, or make whatever we are trying to avoid not happen.

We worry about whether or not we are going to get old, sick, die, or any variation on this theme. We worry about poverty, the job market, our social standing and any variation on this theme. We worry about the country, the planet, our towns and villages. We worry about not being good enough, being too good, being rejected, ignored, noticed and any variations on those themes.

What is worry?

Worry is the least effective way of changing the very thing that is causing you to worry in the first place. If you have heard about the Law of Attraction, you will have read about how whatever you focus on will be attracted into your life. Even if you don’t believe this, have you read any of the studies that prove that people praying for someone who is sick have vastly improved their recovery rate? If you have, you will begin to understand a little of how important it is to really start to look at where you are focusing your attention if you want to improve your life.

If I worry non-stop about crashing my car, will that prevent me from crashing my car? If you follow the philosophy of the Law Of Attraction, worrying about crashing my car will send a message to the universe to crash my car because that is what I am focusing my attention on. A different way of looking at that is to think about how worrying steals a lot of our energy. If I spend 70% of my time worrying about (insert the relevant item/ event here) then I am effectively worrying about something that hasn’t happened yet and actually may never happen at all.

Worry is always about something that is in the future or the past. Take a moment to look at your life right here, right now. Is this a reality for you here and now? Do you have the power to prevent it by worrying? (Obviously the answer to that question is no.)

Since the Power of Now by Eckharte Tolle and many others are saying that now is the only moment that we have and that living in the now is the way to happiness, worry seems to be a thing we can learn to live without. Everything in the past is gone and everything in the future doesn’t exist yet in the now.

Worrying about something does not change the event or item that you are trying to avoid. In fact, you are sending negative attention to a situation over and over again, and thus potentially attracting it into your life. A different approach may be to send loving healing thoughts to the situation or person, as we know these can be powerful. An added benefit of this is that it feels good as we are doing something positive for someone else.

An example of this is someone worrying about their health. I am assuming they are not blaming their heritage, or someone else for their disease, but are just worrying about the treatment or the diagnosis that they have received. Instead of worrying, take control. Find out what you can do to best understand your disease, and then make an informed decision about how you want to go forwards with this situation. Look into thought patterns, lifestyle, food, or anything that may help to relieve your symptoms. Give yourself the very best opportunity to do something positive towards your state of health. Will it always turn out how you want it to? Maybe not, but you will have invested your energy in doing your best to give yourself a good chance of recovery.

Another question is what are you depriving yourself of because you are worrying so much? If I am worried about what other people might think, do you think that will make me spontaneous and free? If I am paralyzed by worry, life will be very small and probably quite uncomfortable. Imagine if you were able to train your brain to think differently, and to worry less. Imagine how much more time you would have to lead a full life, experiencing new things and people and really having the chance to enjoy life, and find out who you really are. Each and every one of us has gifts that we are supposed to share with the world. Does worry prevent you from sharing yours?

Written by Caroline Nettle

Please retweet this article.