If you’re a worrier, you know how draining it is. Worry depletes our energy and can disrupt our regular activities, yet we’ve all encountered experiences where it gets the best of us. Haven’t you wished you could hit the delete button to stop your over active imagination when thoughts start spinning out of control?
Worry is a fruitless experience and while intellectually we know this, we’ve all been sucked into the vortex! Some people worry so often about so many things that it’s become a habit that’s hard to break.
So, what can we do to change this?
First, we need to recognize its futility. My mother used to say,
“Worrying is like rocking in a rocking chair, it will keep you busy but it won’t get you anywhere.”
Let’s dissect the act of worrying.
According to Philosopher Lao Tzu, if you’re anxious, you’re living in the future. In order to worry, we need to be thinking about a future event and imagining a negative outcome. Worrying takes us out of the present moment. What we are projecting has not even come to pass and yet we’re giving it the energy of reality!
From this perspective, it’s easier to see how worry is a self-inflicted state of fear and anxiety. I encourage you to remember an important universal law of physics: what you think about comes about; what you focus on expands – even if it’s not what you want!
Our subconscious minds are powerful manifestation machines. Let’s use them to help bring about the circumstances and events we want, not to inadvertently amplify the things we’re concerned about.
There was a time when I felt my life was veering off course. I found myself steeped in worry. Recognizing my anxiety was born of feeling out of control, I needed to find a better way to cope and transform this worry into something productive and calming. I’m happy to share my solution, which has worked time and again for most people. If, for instance, loved ones are in a dangerous situation or battling an illness, all the worry in the world cannot ensure a positive outcome for them but it will surely wreak havoc on your own health by increasing stress, tension, anxiety and fear in your own world.
This certainly has a negative effect on your physical, mental and emotional health.
What’s the antidote?
Again, I call attention to the creative power of the subconscious. Instead of worrying about a situation, which we’ve already established is predicting the worst, I invite you to refocus your attention in a positive, healing way.
- What would your experience be like if you were to imagine the best outcome for the situation instead?
- Imagine or visualize the result you prefer and see it happening in your mind’s eye.
- Hold the intention with focus, love and the expectation of this being your reality.
This process counteracts worry, settles our frenzied minds, creates a positive focus, neutralizes fear and encourages a calmer state of mind.
About the Author
Linda Mitchell, Board Certified Professional Coach, Reinvention Expert and founder of Linda Mitchell Coaching and Healing has been coaching and practicing for over 20 years operating from a deep desire to help people move through life’s challenges and transitions with more ease and grace, less anxiety and stress. Her unique “Reinvention Program” helps people who are stuck, in pain or ready for change to reclaim balance, better health and gain clarity on their next meaningful role with more purpose, fulfillment confidence and Ease.
