You Don’t Have Time to Worry

Worried little girl by txd

How true, how true. Most of us are so busy we don’t have time for living. How could we possibly have time to waste on worrying? Yet hundreds of thousands of us do it all the time. We are plagued by financial concerns, relationship troubles, and difficulties at work. We worry about things that have already happened, our past mistakes, as well as things that could possibly happen, or might come true in the future.

Worry, fear and anxiety steal the joy from our happy moments; it steals the energy and health from our bodies, and steals the wisdom and strength from our minds. To live a more robust, vigorous, productive and joyful life we need to put worry in its place. Slow down the avalanche of negative thoughts that bombard us every day. Try some of the tips below to help you get started:

• Write down your worries. Just the simple act of writing things down is very freeing. It takes away the fear that you might forget something important. It allows your mind to concentrate on the present moment. You are able to deal solely with whatever is happening in the now. It gives you the freedom to take action on your current situation without the distraction of problems that are temporarily out of your control.
• Put a stop to your fears. Many people go through a snowball effect of worry. Perhaps you are worried about having enough money to pay your bills. You may start imagining worst-case scenarios where you lose your job, your car, your house and your spouse. When you recognize this kind of out-of-control fear grabbing hold of you, say aloud to yourself “Stop it. Calm down, you have a good plan.” Learn to put a halt to your unrestrained imagination. Remind yourself of the solutions you have already come up with to deal with your problem.
• Take a news break. One way we tend to worry more than we should is by paying attention to negative events and situations. Anyone who watches the daily news understands how filling your mind with tragedies, natural disasters, death and money troubles, even if they all belong to someone else can fill you with anxiety and stress. Turn off the TV and stay away from newspapers and magazines for a while. Your mind and body will thank you.
• Learn to relax. Scheduling daily quiet time into your day is a must to get your worry and fear under control. When you are busy and overwhelmed with getting things done, you don’t allow yourself the space for peaceful, calming thoughts and feelings. Breathing deeply, listening to soothing music, or repeating positive thoughts to yourself can counteract your panic and apprehension. Sitting outside under the sun or stars for just 15 minutes can slow down your thoughts, brining clarity and peace.
• Set a time limit. If you can’t stop a worry or concern from straying into your thoughts, set aside time to address it. Put aside at least 15 minutes to an hour. Write down what’s bothering you and your ideas to correct it. If you need to, call a friend to ask advice, visit a professional on the subject or get a good book from the library to help. By knowing you have a set time to deal with your problems you are less likely to experience the doubt, uncertainty and uneasiness of facing the unknown.
• Find a good distraction. When your worries are trivial or insignificant, try finding a more useful diversion. Some people find doing a constructive chore, like cleaning, exercising, or taking care of the kids a good way to keep their minds focused on the here and now. If you do this each time your thinking goes astray you may be able to stop the worry habit in its tracks. Life is too short to spend it fearing things that may never happen. Why not arrange your photo album, find new dinner recipes, or sort your belongings for your next garage sale instead?

Daily habits - are they good or bad?

At Stress to Power I saw a post about Reprogramming Our Robot Minds. Since human behavior is so very interesting it really got me thinking. Are the majority of your habits helping you in life or hindering you? For me, I must confess that many of mine do both. For instance, I love the computer and when I’m playing around on it I learn a lot, whether I’m looking up recipes for dinner, having a good laugh or just playing with a program. However, at the same time I can end up on it for hours, skipping over the exercise, cleaning or other chores I need to do.

Am I the only one who has this problem? I get caught up in what I’m doing, which is usually a great thing – to be in the flow, in the present moment. But when it keeps me from doing what I should, does it do more harm than good? I said should because I usually get done what I need to, like the exercise and cleaning, it’s just I sometimes start out with a 15 minute cleaning job, and then decide to do the whole house and it turns into 2 hours.

I would argue that this habit does more good than harm. I still do what I want and need to do, just not when I planned to do it. The downfall of course, is that some of this (like exercise) is more effective when done every day rather than all at once. For a look at more ideas on habits and their effect on you, check out Jenny & Erin’s tongue-in-cheek quest for understanding.

Whatever your own results are, this is a good reminder to take a look at your habits and tweak any that might be impeding your success. Good luck!

Stress relief - rocks that help you relax.

Quartz crystal cluster by mscaprikell


We’ve all heard lots of stress relief technique remedies like exercising, eating right, getting enough sleep and relaxing. I’ve tried many, and most work - some more, some less. Now I’m adding one more to the list – meditation with crystals. Sure, to some it may sound silly, stupid, or like mere wishful thinking. How could a stupid rock help anyone relax? Others will say it’s more of that “new age crap”.

They all may be right. But I don’t believe it. I was raised Catholic, but consider myself a spiritual explorer. When I learned that scientists said that experiments found that subatomic particles acted differently in the same exact experiment when they were observed by a person versus left alone in a room, it made me think.

For years, I have heard that prayer relieves stress for many, and I’ve read that doctors say patients that are prayed for heal faster than those that aren’t – whether the patient believes in religion or not. This is thought-provoking information indeed.

I read a fantastic Time Magazine from August 4^th 2003 called The Science of Meditation. In it I read an article called “Calming the mind,” which explored the anatomy of meditation. There have been studies done that show that sustained meditation, especially over a period of time like that done by Tibetan Monks, does change brain chemistry and neural pathways.

We all know that quartz is used as an energy amplifier in many different pieces of technology - like a quartz watch for instance. As I read more about this subject, I learned that different crystals had different healing vibrations or energies. I was drawn first to amethyst because of the beautiful purple color. I found that if I held one in my hand during meditation, it deepened my sense of relaxation and calm even further.

I have tried many other stones since then, and found that I feel differently when I hold different stones. I have no idea how this works, nor do I really care. I offer this only as one more option to release the stress of your day. I have found that simply focusing on a crystal offers my mind a place to softly focus so the random thoughts and worries don’t take over.

For those of you who made it this far in your reading – congratulations. If nothing else, you have kept an open mind and perhaps found a fun hobby (collecting crystals). For more on what crystal healing is all about, here are a few links.

Exquisite Crystals.com
The Crystal Healing Shop
And The Crystal Bible on Amazon.com

Why are comedians so depressed?

In light of recent news that Owen Wilson, the Hollywood actor/comedian who allegedly attempted suicide, I began to wonder about depression and how to spot it in friends or family. I’d like to use this as an opportunity to be more aware of those around us, and to motivate us to give an extra hug or smile. To do some small thing to let those we care about know we love them.

I see this as an example not all depression may be recognized through classic symptoms like withdrawal, fatigue or heightened emotional levels of sadness and anxiety. It’s interesting to note that former comedians like John Belushi, Chris Farley, and Richard Jeni had problems in life that some believe were linked to their depression. At the same time it seemed that friends and family felt that because their loved ones were so happy and playful that nothing was wrong.

I’ve been surprised in the past that many former comedians have suffered from drug and alcohol abuse, suicide attempts and other problems. I think many people, including myself, see these people as funny, smiling and always happy. If we have friends and family that are this way, we may miss signs that something is wrong. Perhaps we will brush off our uneasiness by thinking that they are having a bad day, maybe they are tired or overworked.

Here is a web site with a list of comedians that suffer or have suffered from depression. I was surprised by the list. Even if everyone you know seems fine, you may want to reach out to someone to let them know you love them. There’s no time like the present! I’ve hardly ever regretted sharing a kindness or doing something for a friend, but there have been many times I have regretted NOT doing it. Let’s take some hope from a possible tragic event and turn it into a positive. To help you get started here are some great web sites with tips on just that. Now go give your loved one a hug!

http://www.unt.edu/recsports/pdf/star_chart/steps_to_compliment.pdf
70 simple ways to brighten someone’s day.

http://www.funpages.com/101ways/
101 ways to ways to make someone smile and make yourself feel good.

http://www.helpothers.org/ideas.php
Ideas and stories of how kindness touched the lives of both receiver and giver.

Put some funny into your life!

One of my favorite things to do nowadays is to read funny web sites, blogs, and newsletters. So many days, things either seem really dull, or little problems and irritants bring me down. One new solution for me is to read or watch something funny. I love You Tube’s many parodies, The Happiness Project blog, and web sites like Happy News.

I’ve read several good books too; one of my many favorites is A Whack On The Side Of the Head by Roger van Oech. I also love Laffirmations by Joel Goodman, and the funny books by Barbara Johnson, author of Stick a Geranium in Your Hat and Be Happy. All of these books offer insight into why adding laughter and fun into your life will help you copy with any illness, disease, money problems or even divorce. There is nothing that can’t be made better with a little laughter.

There are so many great articles and web sites out there to check out. Here are just a few (in no particular order):

• 
  Why Work Stress IS a Laughing Matter! By Mike Kerr. Work stress takes a huge toll on our physical and mental well-being. Find out why laughter and a positive sense of humour (or heck, humor) truly is the best medicine when it comes to managing our work stress.

• Do You Have a Humor Deficiency Syndrome? By Larry Wilde. Test your funny bone and see if you have HDS with this short quiz.

• Stress Humor and Health see information on humor and healing from two people in the health care field. Cute site.

Well I hope this information is helpful or at least interesting. Feel free to leave comments and share your best funny sites or books with me. Have a fun-filled day!

If you think nobody cares about you, try missing a couple of payments.