“Drag your thoughts away from your troubles… by the ears, by the heels, or any other way you can manage it.” ~Mark Twain
Isn’t it amazing how much we know that worry is a useless waste of our time and how much of our time we spend in worry anyway? Waz up wit dat??
I’m going to lay it all out on the line just to show you how ridiculous it all is.
What I’m worrying about today…
That I’m no longer respected at work. (antidote: what other people think of me is none of my business)
That I’m not going to leave my job when I wanted to. (antidote: I’ll leave my job when it’s time and I’ll know it when it comes)
That I’ll never make any money online. (antidote: I’ll keep doing the things that I need to do to create an online business and the money will follow… or not)
That I’ll die before I do all the things I want to. (antidote: You never get it done, so enjoy the moment!)
That I’ll die before I retire. (… well, let’s hope this doesn’t happen, huh?)
That I’ll never lose this weight that I recently gained. (antidote: give myself a break, already! and… what other people think of me is none of my business)
That I’ll lose my cat. (well, I will one of these days, but I sure love having her around now, so enjoy every precious moment)
Ok, phew, got all that off my poor, worried chest! The amazing thing is that we all do this. Day in day out. When I get ahold of myself and realize that I’m making all this up in my head, I get a few moments or even a day or two of relief.
This is what separates us from other animals. We have the capability to think and reason. What a curse upon us.
“If you can’t sleep, then get up and do something instead of lying there worrying. It’s the worry that gets you, not the lack of sleep.” ~Dale Carnegie
I love this quote. It gives me permission to turn on the light and read or do anything to get my mind off of my worries. Sometimes simply telling myself that there’s nothing I can do about whatever I’m worrying about right now will actually stop the thoughts and allow me to relax into sleep.
Fear is the killer. It causes anxiety attacks and it keeps us from living in the moment.
“As a rule, what is out of sight disturbs men’s minds more seriously than what they see.” ~Julius Caesar
Judging by these quotes, we’ve been worrying for a very long time. Maybe President Obama should create a Ministry of Worry, especially in these trying times.
