My client S said that her favorite quote of mine is, “worry is not preparation.”
I don’t know if I can claim this as an original or not, all I know is it is helpful to remember if you sense you’re entering into the worry cycle.
If you can stop for a second and remind yourself that “worry is not
preparation” you might get that worrying is not an action, it’s a feeling. It’s a feeling that can FEEL like your doing something when you’re in it.
If you are like some people, you can almost be superstitious around the worry. Thinking “if I don’t worry about something then it might end up happening.” A diligent worrier, oy. The thoughts are not DOING anything to make or change a given situation. It is only serving to zap your creative brain strength that could have been used to figure out how to deal with or eliminate the thing that’s causing the concern. You’re likely worrying
because you don’t think you are capable of handling the real or imagined situation. Or you’re worried that the outcome is going to be something that’s just unbearable. Am I right?
Rachel,
Absolutely love that quote. In fact, in response, I’m going to hack my inner language a bit: I’ll avoid ever thinking or saying “I’m worrying” or “I am worried”, but only use “I feel worry” to put it in its place, and to emphasize its transience. It’s only a feeling that passes, it is not what I am or what I am doing.
Trev
Great Trevor! It’s also important for us to be conscious of making the claim that we are “worriers.” I don’t know about you, but I am not going to choose worry as my vocation or even avocation.
HOWEVER, I do talk about “using what you have” a lot. So if worry is a common emotion for you, you can use it to help you grow. Sound strange? Stick around, I’ll surely bring it up in a post soon. It’s like a Dharma talk I once heard, “If You are a Thief, then Steel Enlightenment.”
Rachel,
Great quote! I have to remind myself of that quite often. Worry is like empty calories…at the end of the day, neither makes a positive impact.
Looking forward to your blogs and ideas.
Hi Ginger,
I love the empty calories analogy!
Witnessing thoughts we can certainly watch worry rear its head…I really like how you express it here that worry is not preparation. How many times do we get lost in worry simply to realize that it’s nothing? Thanks for this insightful post.