Are you worried about the future? Are you worried about the state of the world? Are you worried about your health, a family member or where you’ll be in 5 years?
Ok, this is going to be a BIG reminder to STOOOP if the answer is “yes”!
Why do we worry?🤷🏻♀️
I think worrying is a behavior left over from our ancestors. This is my hypothesis. A long time ago, our predecessors would feel danger and the fight or flight reflex would take over. After the danger was over, that feeling would subside and things would go back to being calm. Gradually, over time, life became more stressful. The dangers might not be as extreme any longer, like having bears rampaging toward us, but they became more prevalent and constant like complaining emails, angry drivers in traffic and screaming customers at the grocery store- on the DAILY. Humans slowly began to maintain a constant, low-grade version of fight or flight called worrying. This made us feel like we were still being vigilant. We were still prepared for anything to come at us.
The problem is that living in a constant state of worry is MISERABLE! It feels terrible. It’s uncomfortable and it’s NO WAY TO LIVE!!!
I’m not saying there aren’t times in life to be uneasy or concerned. It is LIFE after all. But, If you think about it, constant worry doesn’t help us to accomplish a whole lot. It’s simply not productive. If anything, it causes us to be lazier and less motivated. It affects our attitude and keeps us awake at night. Worrying can have terrible health ramifications like headaches, stomach issues and even ulcers. It causes us to think less clearly and makes us hesitate and flip flop on decisions.
Most of all, worrying is terrible for our CONFIDENCE!
When we don’t have confidence in our future selves or the future world around us, we tend to live small and scared. We don’t take the chances we need to take in order to grow and we miss opportunities for connection and experience.
So, here’s the deal. If you are a worrier like I’ve been most of my life, it can be a hard habit to kick! We’ve got to find ways to change the subject in our heads. We have to limit our time watching the news and social media and also with people who are Negative Nellies and worry a lot themselves.
Conquering worry is a habit that takes some time and effort, but I’m here to tell you it’s possible. We can’t control the future in many ways. Living more in the present, but striving to expect that the best is coming is a way of thinking and being we can all improve on.
WE GOT THIS, Y’ALL!
Kelly Anderson - The Feelin Good Mama 