We have worried A LOT in the past few years — about everything from jobs to money, the stock market and the debt crisis in Europe. Show me someone who doesn’t worry, and I’ll show you someone who takes recreational drugs.
Do an Internet search for “worry about” and it turns up 779 million results. (A search for "happy place" — as in find yours — turned up a mere 8.7 million results. That's 100 times more results for worrying than happy place, for those of you keeping score at home.)
And where does worrying get us exactly? Just look at the S&P 500— It ended 2011 almost exactly where it started. (off .003 percent, to be exact)
So let’s start fresh for 2012 — and agree to stop worrying so much and get on with it already. Here are some tips for how to knock it off.
1. Create a worry period.OK, so maybe the first rule of worry club is stop worrying about worrying. Instead of trying to wipe it off the map and start living life like a magazine photo shoot, a team of psychologists at Helpguide.com suggest putting worry in its place — giving yourself a finite period of time to worry. Maybe 20 minutes when you get home from work. Don’t schedule it too close to bedtime, however, or you may have trouble sleeping. Declare the rest of the day a worry-free zone. Take THAT, worry. Hizzah!
2.
Make a list.When a worry pops into your head
during the day, imprison it on a Post-It Note — if you
write it down, it won’t nag you all day. It’s on
a list and when you get to your worry period, review that
list, Helpguide suggests.
3.
Learn the right way to
worry.Seriously—there IS a right way to worry.
(Hey, no eye-rolling—I saw that!) As you get to each
worry, Helpguide says, ask yourself: Is the problem solvable?
If it is, start brainstorming and making plans for concrete
steps to fix it. Say, you’re worried about paying your
bills. So start crunching your numbers, get advice online,
meet with a professional, i.e. make a plan of action. Doing
something that will make you feel less worried. If it’s
not something you can solve, just own it. Say, you’re
worried that someday you or a loved one will get cancer.
Sure, you can start taking better care of your health, which
is always a good idea (and makes you feel better) but
it’s out of your control. Just own those emotions,
Helpguide says—just accept that you’re worried
about cancer. Next problem!
4.
Accept uncertainty.Let’s say you had
control over cancer—which you don’t, by the
way—there are 101 million other things in life that are
unpredictable. Accept that life is like an unpredictable wave
and all you can do is surf it.
5.
Envisioning the worst-case scenario will not
help.“You may feel safer when you’re
worrying, but it’s just an illusion,” Helpguide
says. “Focusing on worst-case scenarios won’t
keep bad things from happening. It will only keep you from
enjoying the good things you have in the present. So if you
want to stop worrying, start by tackling your need for
certainty and immediate answers.”
6.
Challenge anxious thoughts.If you’re a
life-long worrier, chances are you don’t even know the
rabbit holes you’re digging for yourself and falling
into. Helpguide suggests flinging open the closet door and
confronting the monster: Identify your frightening thought
and be as detailed as possible. Then, instead of accepting it
as fact and giving it power, challenge it. Treat it like a
hypothesis you’re testing out, Helpguide says.
Oh, really, monster? May I see your ID?
Did you not see
“Nightmare on Elm
Street?” —acknowledging Freddy
Krueger only gave him more power and made him more real.
Instead, take a logical approach like they do on the SyFy
show
“Ghost
Hunters” and think of every possible
thing that shadow or noise could be—besides a ghost.
And even when you have no immediate explanation, agree to
look into it further before you call it a ghost — or a
legitimate worry.
7.
Tell Marty McFly he can keep his time
machine.If you’re worrying, chances are
you’re worrying about something that happened in the
past—or in the future. Try to practice
mindfulness—being in the present, Helpguide suggests.
Instead of confronting your anxious thoughts head on, with
this technique, you’re banishing them to the past or
future and focusing on the present.
8. Set sail on the USS Adorable. If you need to take your
heart rate down a few notches, hit the YouTube and watch some
adorable animals. Might we suggest Animal Planet’s
“Too Cute!,” a show that follows around litters
of puppies or kittens explaining their challenges and
victories. I challenge you to have an elevated heart rate or
worry about that report due Monday while watching this show.
It’s so cute, they have a disclaimer on at the
beginning of every episode: “The following program
contains material that is just too cute. Viewer discretion is
advised.” (Watch a clip:
Shih Tzu
Puppies: Calling In Reinforcements .)
Take THAT, anxiety. Admit defeat—you are no match for a pack of Shih Tzu puppies playing Twister in a bowl of kibble!
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