Are you a worrywart? It’s so easy to get caught up in thinking about ‘bad things and unpleasant scenarios’ that may happen, and then embellish them with so many details! Are you worrying about your job, family, finance, health, relationships and, well, just about everything else? With all these worries, most of us could write a book on the “worry syndrome”.But what’s the use of worrying? Sometimes it seems like a good idea. “It shows I’m a caring person”. It’s also a brilliant motivator, helping us to solve potential problems.
So, what can we do?
- Try to get the worries out! Fish them out. Write them down.
- Don’t see worrying as a sign of how responsible you are.
- Challenge your worries.
- Identify productive and unproductive worry.
- Do one more thing (hang on, it’s explained below – just keep reading). And then set them free!
Before you set them free, you need to deal with the productive and unproductive worries.
You know the unproductive worries? The ones you have no control over? Most of us worry too much because we have a need to be certain about everything. But the only certainty is uncertainty. Things happen. Accept it. Become like a surfer. Don’t go against the waves of uncertainty, just ride them out. Work on your personal resilience so that when things do go wrong, you have the ability to deal with them.
What about ‘productive worries’? Remember, worrying in it self, doesn’t improve the situation. It’s so not a healthy habit. Instead of worrying, think constructively. Think your way to solutions. Think about the desired results. Think thoughts that make the situation better.
Set aside 10 minutes daily or weekly “worry time” (like me-time). Postpone worrying to this allocated time. And when you catch yourself worrying at other times, “STOP”, not now, later!
This blog is part of “The A – Z Challenge”, shifting one negative habit a week into a positive. For more info on the challenge, click here: https://www.innerspace.org.uk/challenges/a-z-challenge.php
