Learning to Postpone Worrying

Thoughts on 133 days of quarantine.

 “I have been through some terrible things in my life, some of which actually happened.” – Mark Twain

What a funny quote by Mark Twain! And so right too. Worrying is a crazy thing if you think about it. It has no value as the act of worrying does absolutely nothing to impact the outcomes. All it does is cause you stress and make your life miserable. So why do we do it? I don’t know the answer to that. 

Yesterday we had a zoom meeting with TCS holdings but because the email said the word liquidation. I thought they were going to tell us that the business went bankrupt and therefore, they had to liquidate which potentially would have meant that we would never receive another cent from them. That is what I thought was happening but no, they were just holding a normal annual meeting in which they invited all the shareholders and because of the pandemic they couldn't do it in person. They did sell two branches of the business but not the whole business. 

One thing I did in the morning is meditation to help me feel at peace and relaxed. Meditation changed me to believe in being very proactive about changing my negative mindset and the things in my life that I am unhappy about which has helped me changed my paradigm into positive thinking. I even spent time doing Yoga and meditating past the 40 day course, by doing so, I overcame worry through self- talk where you are taught to control your thoughts in order to help change your emotions. 

One of the little exercises I learned in regards to controlling worry was the art of postponing your worry. That probably sounds a little silly but there really is merit to trying it and it genuinely helps you to overcome your own worries.

Here is an article that explains a little bit about that process:

“Learning to postpone worrying:

1. Create a “worry period.” Choose a set time and place for worrying. It should be the same every day (e.g. In the living room from 6:00 to 6:20 p.m.) and early enough that it won’t make you anxious right before bedtime. During your worry period, you’re allowed to worry about whatever’s on your mind. The rest of the day, however, is a worry-free zone.

 2. Postpone your worry. If an anxious thought or worry comes into your head during the day, make a brief note of it on paper and postpone it to your worry period. Remind yourself that you’ll have time to think about it later, so there’s no need to worry about it right now. Save it for later and continue to go about your day.

 3. Go over your “worry list” during the worry period. Reflect on the worries you wrote down during the day. If the thoughts are still bothering you, allow yourself to worry about them, but only for the amount of time you’ve specified for your worry period. If the worries don’t seem important any more, cut your worry period short and enjoy the rest of your day.

Postponing worrying is effective because it breaks the habit of dwelling on worries in the present moment. Yet there’s no struggle to suppress the thought or judge it. You simply save it for later. As you develop the ability to postpone your anxious thoughts, you’ll start to realize that you have more control over your worrying than you think. “

In addition to trying those things I also read book after to book to help me. I absolutely love inspirational books! I found a fabulous book that I absolutely loved that also taught me about the value of letting go and doing your best and trusting that things would be as they should be. It was written by an Indian Author named Deepak Chopra. The book is called The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success and it is a seriously fabulous book and I would highly recommend it to everyone as a great read. It changed my life.

All of these things I did really helped me to change my own thinking patterns and to let go of the worry because there was no value that would result from being worried. All of these things helped me to realize that God was in charge and I had to just learn to let go and trust that life would turn out as it should so there was truly no need to be worried.

Yes bad things might happen, but they will happen whether you worry or not. And nine times out of ten the things you worried about will never ever come to pass and you will have spent all of your energy worrying for absolutely nothing! What a waste of a beautiful life.

Con amor,

Vero