Why We Worry
My friend, Ricky, always thinks ahead of time. He loves to prophesy possible scenarios in the near future, not through astrology or a crystal ball, but rather with his negative-leaning mind. Sadly, his future visions, mostly rooted in negative thoughts, have manifested nothing but one of the roots of mental illness: worry.
Worry is a form of fear and a self-destructive mindset that can stifle the flow of your innate creativity. When you worry, your creative genius shivers and dissipates into mental breakdown. In that moment, no wonderful idea can emerge from your mind. The worst part is that, when worry becomes a chronic habit, it leads to severe mental and physical deterioration.
But despite the ominous warning, why do Ricky and most of us still worry?
Answer: Ignorance.
We are ignorant of the fact that worry is not real.
You may want to dispute this with the following:
“We worry not out of ignorance, but because of our inherent appetite for being responsible, serious, and pride-saturated individuals. So, when we lose our job, since we are responsible and don’t take life for granted, it’s natural to worry. That’s right! We have to worry about not getting a job soon and losing our basic needs—shelter, food, and clothing. Oh, and we have to worry about our pride being slowly fried.”
Well, I would say, “Wake up! Quit worrying—just take action!”
The truth is, worry is borne out of ignorance—and ignorance alone. We are ignorant of the fact that worry, and its associated fear, is not real but just a figment of our imagination.
Your mind creates many images, both negative and positive. Most of these images are merely blips on the screen of your mind, nothing of significant value. Worry is one of those negative blips, whose life is brief and temporary. When you worry, you imagine a dark, unforeseen future clouded by negative thoughts and laced with illusory fear. It may happen, but most of the time it won’t. Why? Simple—it’s only an imagination. Nothing more.
In reality, you have nothing to worry about. Things will happen the way they should, whether you worry or not. In fact, most often, things will turn out better than you expect. But if they don’t, so what? Let it happen—it will happen anyway. Don’t worry, you will survive and continue to live.
I remember my friend Ricky. When I spoke to him years ago, he and his wife, along with their three kids, wanted to move out of his parents’ house. But he was so worried that if he lost his job, he couldn’t pay for the apartment and would live miserably—and then die miserably. I explained to him that this was only his thought, a negative imagination that may or may not happen. Chances were, it wouldn’t happen, because it was just his imagination. I told him, “If you get your own apartment, one thing is sure: You and your family won’t perish. You will live, and you will continue to live.”
Well, of course, I told him more than that to convince his worried mind. In the end, not only did they get an apartment, but they later purchased their own dream house. It’s been more than five years now, and true enough, Ricky and his family are still alive and will continue to be.
Bear in mind, in the ladder of life, there are people living below your rung. If they can still live and continue to live, why can’t you? If the poorest of the poor in some corners of the earth can still live and continue to live, why can’t you? And if these unfortunate ones can live without anything but their life, why can’t you?
Of course, you can!
So, why worry? Better yet, just let go and accept life as it is. This way, no matter what comes your way, you can enjoy and live your life to the fullest.
I will leave you with this quote from Lao Tzu:
“Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes. Don’t resist them—that only creates sorrow. Let reality be reality. Let things flow naturally forward in whatever way they like.”
Category: POWER, Self Improvement
