March 11    

Today's quotation:

Worrying is carrying tomorrow's load with today's strength-- carrying two days at once.  It is moving into tomorrow ahead of time.  Worrying doesn't empty tomorrow of its sorrow, it empties today of its strength.

Corrie Ten Boom

Today's Meditation:

I used to worry a lot.  I believe it was a trait that I inherited from my mother, but I have no proof of that.  It could also be that since I grew up in an extremely unstable environment in many ways, I simply got used to worrying because it was a way of life when I was young.  No matter what the reason, I've been able to deal with the worrying pretty well recently, and I no longer find myself focused so strongly on what might be or go wrong that I'm unable to function properly in many other ways.

Worry takes more out of us than we imagine.  My worrying helps and changes nothing about the situation I'm worried about, but it does change my ability to focus on the present moment and the things I have to do and the people I need to pay attention to.  My worrying makes me almost helpless, in a sense, because I'm not able to function nearly as effectively when my mind is wrapped up in what might happen in the future.

The tension that I feel when I worry also causes me to react differently to things that happen and things that people say.  It causes me to overreact, very often, or to not react at all at other times.

So what do we do about it?  In my case, I've learned that I need to remind myself of two things:  What's going to happen is going to happen, no matter how much I worry about it--my worrying neither prevents nor causes it; and two, Almost nothing that I've worried about has turned out to be as bad as my worrying made it.  I can wait to deal with the situation when the situation arises, and I don't need to go over it in my mind now.  Letting go of my fears of what may happen is extremely liberating, and my today is much more enjoyable when I'm not thinking about what may be tomorrow or this afternoon or next week.

Questions to consider:

What are some of the triggers for worry for you?  Why do you worry about these particular things?

How do you keep yourself from worrying about what may happen?

What's the difference between making plans to deal with what will happen and worrying about what will happen?

For further thought:

One of the worst features about worrying is that it destroys our ability to concentrate.  When we worry, our minds jump here and there and everywhere, and we lose all power of decision.  However, when we force ourselves to face the worst and accept it mentally, we then eliminate all these vague imaginings and put ourselves in a position in which we are able to concentrate on our problem.

Willis H. Carrier

more about worry

   

  

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