Why do we worry?
The reason we worry so much is that we’ve got an amazing imagination. It’s capable of creating the most elaborate, detailed worlds that haven’t happened yet. It may just happen to be focused on the negative right now.
What if today we stopped beating ourselves up for being so stressed out and instead admitted, “I have an amazing imagination. I”m so creative when it comes to describing my future. What would happen if I applied that energy to a positive possibility?”
Within a creative imagination, anything can happen. Wonderful things. Horrific things. It’s all there – all the possibilities. There’s a yin-yang element to worry and the imagination.
Is worry always bad? No, it isn’t. If the worry about something sparks us to take action and deal with the situation, then the worry is helpful. If it pushes us to make necessary changes in our lives, it is helpful. If it warns us that we may be in danger so that we take action, it is helpful.
When we can imagine the worst (and also see the possibility in it) we have turned a corner. Things begin to shift. Worry is transformed into creativity.
I remember that quote attributed to Mark Twain that says “Worry is like a rocking chair, it gives you something to do but never gets anywhere.” Well, look where it got someone!
As musician Bobby McFarin sings in his 1988 song Don’t Worry, Be Happy, “in every life we have some trouble; when you worry you make it double.” Worry can double whatever it is we are dealing with and we don’t need to magnify our worries!
The question then is what are we worried about? And if it is something we can do something about, then let’s do it! If it’s not something we can do something about, let’s not let it double in our imagination.
1 Comment
Now if I can just practice this I would be so happy!!!