Worry empties strength not sorrow

Our modern-day ethos is such that most adults who lead a life of hectic work schedules find that they are prone to worrying. The average office-going man, who is also the head of the family, is able to spend a hurried half-hour with his wife and kids while gobbling down a hurried breakfast before he rushes out to catch the office cab. A hundred travails and worries are probably assailing his mind — Will I be able to pay the EMIs for this month? Will the house we are constructing be ready in time? Will Varun do well enough to attain admission in an Engineering college?

Most people do have such worries that plague their minds. Some manage to take stress and tension in their stride, others get affected by it. The latter set of people are definitely not calm or collected, and they may even go through sleepless nights.

How does one minimize worries? One should reassure oneself that all the negative outcomes that could probably accrue, usually don’t. One must learn to be positive, as only if one puts out a persona of positivity and face the Universe, will that positivity come back. Positive thoughts breed positivism.

Secondly, one should refrain from asking oneself a whole list of `what if’ questions in order to dissipate the negativity. Once one has thrashed the flow of negativity, one will find that there is nothing too disastrous that can occur. One should ask one’s self— will this matter even matter 5 years from now?

Thirdly, since worrying can become addictive and since “worry begets worry”, one must try hard to nip the worry plant in the bud. It would behove one to write a list of the worries in the first column. and in the second column, one should write correspondingly, for each worry, a positive possibility.

The second positive column will read like a gratitude list and will, if practised, dissipate the first column of worries.

Slowly, by positive thinking, reflecting, introspecting, deep breathing and exercising will one render one’s self free from the scourge of worries or at least worry much less.

It would be good to remember Corrie Ten Boom’s quotation, “Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrows. It empties today of its strength.”