How to stop worrying?
If you look around us today, we live in a world that can be, at times a frightening and discouraging place. Even before the Covid-19 pandemic struck us and many of our livelihoods impacted, we have each encountered stressful and frustrating situations. Whether we are the young or the old, the healthy or the sick, the poor or the rich, these troubles have in one way or another led us to worry, feel anxious and sometimes fearful of the future. These emotions affect our mental well-being, create chaos and disturbs the order of our daily lives. But is it possible for us to not worry when the situation calls for it? When our livelihoods are at stake and the future appears bleak? How are we to do so?
Worry is a state of mind: Change your perspective and you changed your life.
Well, in order to stop worrying, we need to first understand that these emotions are a manifestation of the mind. What we see we think and what we think we do. It is through the lens through which we view the world and the thoughts we fixated upon that we allow worries and anxieties to deepen within us, spiralling further chaos in our minds. We fall into our own pit of negative emotions with walls so high that it is sometimes impossible to climb back up. A trap we often set ourselves but fail to realise.
“We suffer more in imagination than in reality.”
A detached self-awareness
Instead, we need the awareness that these emotions do not help our situation in any way. Matthew 6: 27 says it best, “Can anyone of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”. The Stoics too have a name for this-Apatheia, which is a kind of calm equanimity with the absence of negative and unhelpful emotions. This allows us to keep steady and clear-headed so that we can focus our efforts on things we can control, solving issues instead of reacting to them. Hence, if you find yourself worrying, stop and ask yourself if what you are doing now is helpful to the current situation. Otherwise, get busy working on the issue and let the self-fulfilling prophecy work for you.
If A-Z represents 1–26, Attitude = 100
In the face of overwhelming challenges, one should also adopt an Amor fati attitude- the love of everything that happens. In life, many situations and circumstances can come like a thief in the night, robbing us of our peace and stability. We may feel disheartened by our loss, reeling from agony and frustration. But if we can face up to these obstacles and embrace whatever life throws our way, we can emerge stronger, better and wiser. In 1961, Thomas Edison saw his factory engulfed in flames from an explosion. Instead of feeling saddened by the loss of his factory, prototypes and other research, he told his son with childlike excitement to get his mother for they will never see a fire like this. Edison even reassured his family, “It’s all right. We’ve just got rid of a lot of rubbish.”. It is this sort of Amor fati (love of fate) mindset that propel Thomas Edison to restart his factory a few weeks later and earn 10 times his initial loss of $1 million dollars the very same year. For we don’t get to choose what happens to us, but we can always choose how we feel about it. And why would we not choose to feel anything but good?
Journaling is a voyage to the inner self
Journaling is a process where we confide in ourselves. It is not meant for the reader but for the writer. It helps to slow the mind down, to let the dust settle and observe clarity within ourselves. Journaling gives us a channel to direct disturbances and negative emotions onto paper, distancing ourselves from the issue we are troubled with. It helps us to see the bigger picture, the forest from the trees and even silences the barking dogs in our head. Journaling can help us prepare for the day ahead or even reflect on the day passed. It allows us to uncover our troubles, obtain a more objective view of our issues and organise our thoughts in a more coherent manner. Anne Frank, a German refugee from the Holocaust often describe journaling as a great source of comfort and support. A spiritual windshield that helps punch the mind of agitation and foolishness. It does not matter when you journal but as long as you do it for this process of self-reflection might be the most important thing you do all day.
Mind-body wellness eases our anxieties
Take care of your body and it will take care of you. Asides from noting what goes into our diet, boosting your physical activity do numerous wonders to your body too. The increased blood flow and circulation from exercises help releases many of our pent up stresses and frustration. The best part is that we do not need to take up intense exercises hours at a time, the basic walks we perform daily can work marvels. Soren Kierkegaard, a renowned philosopher often tells his sister-in-law that every day he walks himself to a state of well-being. He would walk away from every illness, walk into his best thoughts and walk away from troubling ones. It is the repetitive yet ritualised motion of walking that forms an exercise of inner peace within us. So take a walk today.
I hope you have enjoyed the read today.
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