Worrying takes time and energy and it never helps. It may cause high blood pressure or increase anxiety but it will never contribute to solving any problem.
Riley has severe anxiety. She was invited to join a group of women on a four-day getaway at a luxury beachside resort. Her husband was completely supportive and happy to have bonding
time with their 2 year old. Riley’s first worry, catching a cold or the flu from people on the
plane. Second worry, getting mugged. Third worry, she didn’t know all of the invited women,
and on and on and on. There was no point in trying to reassure her about any of her concerns, because another one would pop up to replace it. Usually anticipating a vacation is part of the fun. Looking forward to time off of work and having no home or child care responsibilities would usually make a person happy. But for Riley each day brought more and more anxiety. She forced herself to go and had a terrific time. She didn’t get sick or mugged and all of the women were warm and welcoming.
Emma was hired for what appeared to be her dream job. She was offered a 25% salary increase to do what she loved doing at a young, vibrant up-and-coming company. Also, instead of her usual forty-minute commute she would only be ten minutes from home. Then the worrying began. How could she possibly fit in? She was sure that her weight, wardrobe and hair weren’t fashionable enough. Were any of the other employees married? Did they have kids? And on and on and on. When she expressed some of her concerns to the HR person, the offer was rescinded. Very legally, the HR person agreed with Emma, that she wasn’t a good fit for the position.
When you allow worrying to become a constant force in your everyday life, you can’t tell the difference between your intuition and your imagination. There are many methods of dealing with worry: counseling, meditation, yoga, and medication. But leaving it unchecked will keep you from enjoying so much of your life.
Dead people say: We have said this before and we’ll keep on saying it! Life is so much shorter than you think, for you and for your loved ones. Please take care of yourself the best that you can, so that you can enjoy the time that you have. It may be difficult and you may have to work at it, but happiness is possible.
You’re allowed to be happy!
You have been having some interesting conversations with dead people! Mine are more personal. 😉 I suspect that counseling is likely to be the only surefire way to get over worrying. Or anxiety meds. Or both.
They are interesting. Definitely keeps me on my toes!
Do yours counsel you or are they entertaining?
I’m sort of like Riley. I do fuss and fret. That is the kind of person I am. I accept and live with it. I know that it is worse in the imagination than in reality. I think we have own individual way of coping. But we can also learn to cope better.
It’s good to know and accept yourself for who you are.
Thank you for your input, Lily.