Worry is like a rocking chair....

What exactly is worry? Webster defines worry as to torment oneself with or suffer from disturbing thoughts; fret. Worry is fantasy and imagination done poorly.  What good is it to dwell on things that you can’t be certain will EVER happen? It serves absolutely NO purpose whatsoever.  Knowing all of this, because we do know that it does us no real good to worry, the act of worrying remains one of the biggest positive energy-suckers in our lives today. We worry, worry, worry and in the end, we have gotten nowhere in our day to day happenings. Like the quote says, Worry is like a rocking chair, it gives you something to do, but it gets you nowhere!

I have always been a worrier by nature. A huge worry wart, my husband will tell you I used to be the biggest worrier of them all! I worried about everything and anything, ALL THE TIME. The things I would worry about were often things that were so far out of my control, it served no purpose to really worry about them at all. I still generate a sense of worry when things are not necessarily going the way I think they should be, but in the end, all in all, I have learned to follow my ever present principle of, “Think about it. If I can change it, change it! If I can’t, then accept it and move on.” Worrying is counterproductive and more often than not, will create such irrational thoughts that, when you look back on things you worried about, they will make you laugh that you ever had the thoughts in the first place! Worrying is a pointless exercise to practice, so why not start working on eliminating needless worry from your life starting NOW?

Freedom from worry is a process you can start today. Whenever you find yourself overly focused on and worried about something that has your stomach doing more flip flops than an Olympic gymnast, take a step back and remove yourself from the worrisome situation.  Recognize whether or not you can truly and honestly do ANYTHING about it and know that it will be less important in the future. The things we worry about will find a way to work themselves out, without you earning any new grey hair from the matter, losing more fingernails over it, or giving yourself a stress induced headache over something that was not yours to worry about in the first place!!!

As with many of the topics I choose to dive into and write about, another song has been streaming through the jukebox in my brain as I sit here and write. Don’t Worry, Be Happy, a little a cappella song by Bobby McFerrin, is one of the catchiest songs about worry that I always think of in times of serious worry and stress. How can you NOT smile, want to sound a bit reggae, and toe tap when you hear these lyrics: Here is a little song I wrote; You might want to sing it note for note. Don’t worry, be happy! In every life we have some trouble; When you worry you make it double! Don’t worry, be happy……

Today, Don’t Worry! Be Happy!