I have always been a worrier. A chronic worrier. And my worries multiplied exponentially after hitting my 40s. It's not that I worry about more things now, it's the same old things, health of self and family members being the top of the list forever, but the intensity of the worry increased so much that that itself became a part of my new worry.
I tried solving this in the only way that I know. Reading various self help blogs or books which can help me alleviate my fears. They would make me feel confident and secure for a few hours may be, and then the ugly head of worrying would start popping back again.
I was at a loss about what to do and how to fix this. And recently, I had a "slap in the face" realisation for my worry habit in the most unexpected of places. It was in a blog post by Joshua Becker where he brought out the similarities between Greed and Worry, and how they both keep us from living our best lives in the same way. The article points out that while the greedy want to intentionally hoard things for themselves, the worriers are not able to give away either money or time because they are scared of the future. Though the article is about being generous with your possessions and not let either greed or worry to come in way, it jolted me because he was comparing my worry habit with greed, a trait which I totally despise. He brought out the truth in open, by saying that whereas greed has far too many negative connotations, worry is rarely seen as a negative emotion. To quote him :
I tried solving this in the only way that I know. Reading various self help blogs or books which can help me alleviate my fears. They would make me feel confident and secure for a few hours may be, and then the ugly head of worrying would start popping back again.
I was at a loss about what to do and how to fix this. And recently, I had a "slap in the face" realisation for my worry habit in the most unexpected of places. It was in a blog post by Joshua Becker where he brought out the similarities between Greed and Worry, and how they both keep us from living our best lives in the same way. The article points out that while the greedy want to intentionally hoard things for themselves, the worriers are not able to give away either money or time because they are scared of the future. Though the article is about being generous with your possessions and not let either greed or worry to come in way, it jolted me because he was comparing my worry habit with greed, a trait which I totally despise. He brought out the truth in open, by saying that whereas greed has far too many negative connotations, worry is rarely seen as a negative emotion. To quote him :
In fact, we sometimes use the phrasing with pride, “Oh, I’m just a worrier.” Or perhaps even more frequently in passing, “I’m just worried that…..” Worry, you see, is more culturally accepted than greed. Worry is seen as prudent and wise, even thoughtful at times. But don’t be fooled, there is a likelihood it is producing the exact same result in our lives as greed and selfishness.
And this harsh analogy brought me to senses. Am I cured then, of my chronic habit? I don't know. However, I am more hopeful now.
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