Got worry?

Today I was blissing out in a yoga class and the teacher said “ worry is like saying tiny prayers for things you do not want?“ Wait. What was that? Thanks, now I’m worried about being worried. Which got me thinking about worry. I have to say that I am an expert of sorts on the subject. In the sense that I’ve certainly had a lot of practice. Decades actually. 

So I looked it up. The word worry. It means  “To feel uneasy or concerned about something; be troubled“. Yep that sums it up nicely. A bit too nicely perhaps. I think of worry as more slimy and insidious. It’s secretive. We often don’t even know it’s there, lurking. We are so accustomed to it’s presence. Playing the worry tapes over and over. Like that annoying background music at the mall we tune out after a few minutes.

Think about this though. Ever notice that no matter how much we worry about something nothing ever changes? I mean, all us worrying folk buy into the concept that we are actually doing something, when we worry. Right? Like we are “preparing” somehow for that worst case scenario we can only imagine.  But think back. Really think. To all those times you worried about something. All those times you woke up at 3:00 am  white knuckling the sheets. Did the time spent worrying help you? Did the worst actually happen? Did it happen some of the time? Did it ever? It’s amazing how much more vivid our imagination is than actual reality. What’s even more amazing is that we believe it.

So now think about those times when you were actually in a crisis. Did you have time to worry? No? You took care of what you needed to. Adrenaline raced and you just reacted. So what is essential to worry is Time. Long stretches of nothing to do. Taking this further, we could say that all the times we are worrying we are either in the past worrying what if “that" situation happens again or we are in the future worrying that something will happen that we imagine.  It is sure than when we worry we are totally absent from the present moment.

What’s also important about worry is that it not only effects our peace but our bodies. Our body believes us when we worry and reacts accordingly. We activate the part of our nervous system that is needed for crisis and our health is effected. It can effect us big time. Just ponder what chronic stress does to our physical bodies. Further, if we put credence into the law of attraction that what we contemplate we manifest, so in essence what we worry about we create. Fabulous. Right? As if we didn’t have enough to worry about.

So what to do? Because now we’re really worried about being worried as we worry about what worry is doing to our bodies and over all quality of life. Whew.  I think the first step is realize it’s there. Track your thoughts. What is the script that is running through your head all day. Notice the background music. It’s pretty surprising what we say to ourselves when we are not listening. Surprising and often downright painful. Then realize you have the power to change your thoughts at any moment and at any time. If worry appears.  Stop. Look down at your feet. Ask yourself if there is anything constructive you can do about said anxious situation. If there is do it and if there isn’t let it go. Give it up. Change the script in your head. When you worry it is an absolute waste of time. An absolute  waste of the present moment.

Byron Katie who is an amazing teacher and innovator of the “the work" which is an amazing tool for getting out of worry (or any painful thought) really says it so well…

“I can find only three kinds of business in the universe: mine, yours and God’s….Much of our stress comes from mentally living out of our own business. When I think, You need to get a job, I want you to be happy, you should be on time, you need to take better care of yourself, I am in your business. When I’m worried about earthquakes, floods, war, or when I will die, I am in God’s business…The next time you’re feeling stress or discomfort, ask yourself whose business you’re in mentally, and you may burst out laughing! That question can bring you back to yourself. And you may come to see that you’ve never really been present, that you’ve been mentally living in other people’s business all your life. Just to notice that you’re in someone else’s business can bring you back to your own wonderful self. And if you practice it for a while, you may come to see that you don’t have any business either and that your life runs perfectly well on its own.”

So next time you’re worrying ask yourself who’s business are you in? Right now. At this moment. Then get out of your own way.