Worry, what has it done for you?

Do you Worry?  What has it done for you?

 Let go of Worry

Roots to Breath, Dona Anderson

A few months back I was watching a Dr. Oz show and they were talking about worry.  If I remember correctly he said that 40% of our worries never happen, 30% are about things already past, and out of the rest there are many things we cannot do anything about.  So what's left to really worry about, not much!  But we worry anyway, why?

I think sometimes it just gives us something to focus on or talk about. Sometimes we take on our parents worries, or we have one scare and it turns into our lifetime shadow.  Sometimes worries take over who we are, they control us, how we live and move or we just get stuck and don't know how to change these old patterns of living in doom and gloom.    I know for me I worried about money, someone not being home on time, the weather, someone driving somewhere, not feeling well, my parents, my kids, work, change, something breaking down, what was for supper, holidays, to do lists, my weight etc the list could at times be very long.  What did it change or do to help me, nothing.  What did it do to harm me, lots!

Dona Anderson

If we go around worrying about things that probably won't happen, already did, or that we have no control over, what good are we doing?  Think about all that we're losing and missing.  We're not enjoying ourselves, the present time or day, and we aren't thinking about how all the stress from the worry affects our bodies and  our daily lives.

In Simply, One Breath At a Time, one of the lines in the relaxation titled No Where, Now Here on page 88 says that "worry can be replaced with trust."  Like the title, worry often dropped me off in a no where place where I could spend hours or days with stressful and negative thoughts.  Thinking back, it was almost always about things that didn't happen, things from the past or things I had no control over.  Worry took me away from living...

I can only control and live my life the best I know and can, so I'm working on eliminating that 70% and for the other 30% I'm only focusing on things that I can change, help with or do something about and let the rest go. For me, the word trust is a huge part of this process or it is the process, because it is trusting in myself that I mostly needed. 

Some days and some years send a lot of crap our way and I am still practicing.  When small little worries arise as they always do, I can usually change them to questions to ask, a new to do, a request to others, or it identifies a change I need to make.  When one of the big ones comes up, I am trusting that I will have the tools, know how, support, courage, strength, love and determination to move through it because that's all I can do for now.

Freeing myself from unnecessary worry is teaching me how to live each day of my life now here!

Simply One Breath At a TIme is available in paper copy at Amazon and eBook at online booksellers.