Worry

Description

Worrying is the normal human response to uncertainty. 

We worry when we don’t know what’s going on, how to respond, or what the outcome may be. This is a sensation that everyone is familiar with. 

We primarily worry about the future and what it may hold. It’s not just worrying about ourselves. We worry about our family, job, finances, home, and the world. The future is uncertain, and worry is proof that part of us is aware of this uncertainty. Avoiding worry means becoming more comfortable with uncertainty. 

In many cases, we worry about losing what we already have: health, comfort, and support, to name a few. 

Important decisions create a strong sense of worry because big decisions create new circumstances and plunge us into the unknown. This is why procrastination is so popular. It seems better to deal with the uncertainty you already have, rather than create additional uncertainty. 

On some level, we also believe that worrying is productive. After all, a day spent deep in worry is tiring. 

This feeling of mental fatigue convinces us that we’ve done a lot of work. But this thinking is akin to spending a day digging a hole and expecting your car to start running better. 

A better use of worry is to recognize that some part of you is uncomfortable. There may be a good reason for this discomfort, or there may not. Treat worry as an alarm that something might be wrong. 

When worry is viewed as a warning, it isn’t necessary to delve deeper into the worry. A solution can be sought instead.