by Susie Michelle Cortright
Worry helps set us in motion. It helps us muster the motivation
to fulfill our various duties, but when worry turns into
obsession, it can interrupt our daily patterns and immobilize us.
Zap excessive worry with these eight tips:
1. Know your limits.
Create and prioritize a list of goals for your professional
and family life. Then, create weekly, monthly, even quarterly
to-do lists that take into account your available time
and resources.
Recognize that it is not worth your time and energy to obsess
over issues, events, and people in your life over which
you have no control.
2. Trust yourself.
Each time you find yourself dwelling on some future event,
remind yourself that you are capable of handling this problem
when it arises. Develop a sense of trust in yourself to
handle anything that comes your way.
Charge your "confidence battery" by reflecting on all of
your successes. Spend less time worrying about what could
happen with thoughts of what did happen...and how
well you handled it.
3. Prepare for the Worst.
Prepare yourself to accept the worst. Dale Carnegie
offers some classic advice in How to Stop Worrying and
Start Living. First, identify the worst-case scenario.
Accept it. Then, set out to improve upon the worst-case
result. Meanwhile, ask yourself, "Just how likely is
this worst-case scenario?"
4. Hope for the Best.
A positive attitude works wonders and prevents us
from falling into the dark pit of worry and obsession.
Oprah Winfrey and Sarah Ban Breathnach, author of
Simple Abundance, frequently tout the benefits of
keeping a Gratitude Journal to record the daily
blessings life bestows on us. This Gratitude
Journal is a remarkable tool for helping us see the
cup as half full.
5. Journal your fears.
Record your worries in written form. Journaling can
help you channel nervous energy and pinpoint the
real subject of your anxiety.
6. Get help.
A support system is vital, just make sure it does
not contribute to your worries. Sometimes, we tend
to feed off the anxieties of others. We hear about
the neighbors concerns, and we wonder why we haven't
been worried about that all along...
7. Keep busy
George Bernard Shaw said, "the secret of being miserable
is to have the leisure to bother about whether you are
happy or not." If you're obsessing over something you
know is silly, distract yourself. Start a new project.
Take the kids out for ice cream. Call your mother just
to say hi.
8. Remember your religious faith.
Your religious faith can go a long way in breaking the
worry habit. If you see the things that happen in your
life as God's will, and you use your energy to understand
that will--and not to change it--you will naturally let
go of worry. After all, the events in the future are in
God's hand--not yours.
coyright 2000 by Susie Michelle Cortright
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Susie is the founder and publisher of Momscape,
an online magazine devoted to nurturing the nurturers. Read
inspiring articles and essays, and register to win
free pampering packages. http://www.momscape.com