Why We Worry
My friend, Ricky, always thinks ahead of time. He loves to prophesy a possible scenario in the near future, not with astrology nor crystal ball but rather with his negative leaning mind. Sadly, his future visions, mostly tethered on negative thoughts, have been manifesting nothing but one of the roots of mental illness — Worry.
Worry is a form of fear and a self-destructive mindset that could stifle the flow of your innate creativity. When you worry, your creative genius shivers and dissipates into mental breakdown. In that instant, no wonderful idea could emerge from your head. The worst is, when worry has become a chronic habit, it would lead to severe mental and physical deterioration.
But, despite the ominous warning, why 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 not taking life for granted, it’s natural we have to worry. That’s right! We have to worry of not getting jobs soon and losing the basic needs—shelter, food and clothing. Oh, and we have to worry of 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. Ignorant of the fact that—Worry, and its associated fear, is not real but just a figment of imagination.
Your mind creates many imaginations, negative and positive. And most of these imaginations 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 in nature. 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. Things will happen the way it should be, whether you worry or not. In fact, most often, things will turn out better than you expected. But if it will turn out otherwise, so what? Let it happen, and it will happen anyway. Don’t worry, you will surely survive and continue to live.
I remember my friend, Ricky. When I talked to him years back, he and his wife and three kids wanted to get out of his parents house. But he was so worried that if he lose his job, he could not pay the apartment and would live miserably, then die miserably. I explained to him that it’s only his thought, a negative imagination, that may or may not happen. Chances are it won’t happen, for it’s nothing but his imagination. I told him, “If you get your own apartment, one thing is sure to happen: You and your family won’t perish but live and will continue to live.”
Well, of course, I told him more than that to convince his worried mind. At the end, they did not only get an apartment but 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 do so.
Bear in mind, in the ladder of life there are people living below your rung. If they still live and will continue to live, why can’t you? If the poorest of the poor people in some corners of the earth still live and will 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
