It is common advice to suggest that if you have worries, you should ask yourself “What is the worst that could happen?” This may work for some, but I suggest that if you can’t do anything about it, simply stop worrying about it, ruminating over the worst that could happen might make it worse; it might give you even more to worry about. If you start thinking about the worst that could happen, you are bound to come up with worst case scenarios that create their own worries. If you can’t do anything about it, if you have no control over it, throw out the worry. Don’t waste any more time on it. If you can’t control it you have no right to worry about it!
- Worrying is not a virtue, it doesn’t make me a better or more caring person.
- I only have the right to worry about things over which I have control.
- If I have control over something, I have the right to change it.
- If I have a worry I can change, I have the responsibility to either change it or decide that it isn’t worth the effort to change.
- If a problem isn’t worth the effort to change, it isn’t worth worrying about.
- If a problem deserves changing and I can change it, I need to determine what the solution to the problem is.
- If the solution is in my power to accomplish, I need to solve the problem.
- If the solution is not in my power, then it is not my problem and I don’t have the right to that worry.
- I cannot worry about things in the past. Unless I can rectify or change something that happened, I have no right to worry about it.
- I can only worry about things in the future if I have control over them.
- If I have control over something, I don’t need to worry about it, I only need to exercise my control, come up with a solution and work the solution.
- If the solution to my problem does not work, I can only worry about my problems insofar as I can come up with another solution. If there is no solution, I have no right to worry.
- I have the right to do things that are productive, to keep myself busy and engaged in productive and positive activities and to stop worrying.
- I do not have the right to devote time that could be productive to worrying about things I cannot control or change
- I have the right to share my worries, to speak about them with friends and families.
- If I am afraid to share my worries with others, I have no right to keep those worries.
The worry that cannot be spoken, that cannot be shared, turns to guilt, or even greater worries and fears. The worry that cannot be given up turns to sickness, depression, and other nasty things that create even more worries and fears. If you are unwilling to share your worries with someone else because you are embarrassed or uncomfortable about sharing your worries, then it stands to reason that you should probably dispense with the worry. If it is too embarrassing to talk about, then it is not worth holding onto.
As I was growing up my mother used to tell me, “Idle hands are the devil’s playground,” and she would give me some task to do so I would stop moping or pouting. Keeping busy may be an antidote to worrying. If you are busy doing something your focus is on the task at home and it is difficult to concentrate on two things at once. The problem with busying yourself is that the minute you stop busying yourself you start worrying again unless you are willing to truly let go of your worries.
One of the basic tenets of the Law of Attraction is that you are what you think. If you are what you think and what you think about is all your worries, oops, that really sucks. You don’t want to be a train wreck, do you? So stop worrying. Now you are probably worrying about worrying. It is a vicious cycle. But no worries… 🙂 You can overcome worrying too much by keeping the above principles in mind. Live in the moment, enjoy life and “don’t worry, be happy”.