Worry: It's In Your Head! What creates it and how to minimize it.

If you’re reading this article, you might be one of the many people who suffer from anxiety and/or worry. Anxiety is a learned skill brought about as a result of negative thinking – and once you’ve begun to practice it, it becomes easier and easier to do.

Worry is a feeling that something terrible will happen, and it's not just a thought but an emotion

Worry is a feeling that something terrible will happen, and it’s not just a thought but an emotion. The worry centres in your brain get activated when you think about something and your emotional response to it. For example, if you’re thinking of a time when someone made fun of your hair, or you saw an advertisement with a model who looks like you, and she’s wearing something you don’t have the money for.

Worry can seem to come from different places: Sometimes it’s because we’re afraid of being judged by other people; sometimes it’s because we don’t feel good enough; sometimes the worry comes from feeling overwhelmed by all the things we have to do, and sometimes it’s because we’re worried about what other people will think about us if they know what we’re thinking or doing! 

It’s hard not to worry when we’re feeling anxious. When we’re worrying about something, it feels like our brain is saying, “Hey, this is important; you need to focus on this.” And sometimes that’s true! Sometimes it does make sense to focus on the essential things. But there are many times when worrying isn’t helpful: It just makes us feel worse or sadder than we did before we started thinking about whatever made us anxious. 

Worry can sometimes be a strategy for avoiding other feelings, like when you worry so much about what to wear that you don’t have time to think about how sad you fee. That’s because worrying is a distraction— it keeps us from dealing with our emotions!

Why do we worry?

We worry for a lot of reasons, but it serves a few purposes:

  1. Worrying helps us prepare for the future by imagining what could happen and how we’d deal with it.
  2. It allows us to manage the present by giving us something to focus on other than whatever bad thing is happening.
  3. It prepares us for the worst-case scenario so that if it does happen, we’ll be ready to cope with it.

Worrying also has some downsides: It can make us feel like we’re missing out on life because all we’re doing is thinking about what might go wrong instead of enjoying what is going right. It can also cause stress in our bodies and minds, leading to health issues like headaches and insomnia.

When we worry, we usually try to solve a problem or make a decision. But worrying doesn’t help us solve problems or make decisions. Instead, it makes us feel like we’re doing something productive, even though we aren’t getting anything done.

Worry is like a rocking chair......

 

How do I know if I’m worrying too much? 

If you find that your worrying is getting in the way of your daily life, it might be time to make some changes. Here are some questions to ask yourself:

-Do I worry about things that have already happened?

-Do I worry about what others think of me?

-Do I spend a lot of time thinking about different scenarios for the future and how they might play out? 

Worrying is often a habit we don’t even realize we’re doing. It’s very easy to get caught up in how we think things should be or how they could go wrong. And it seems like worrying would be helpful—after all, if you know what might happen, you can plan for it. But the truth is that worrying isn’t very useful at all and only makes things worse.

We overcome worry by understanding.

The Worry Formula is about understanding. If you do not know what the worry formula is, read this blog here

The nature of thought...

An aspect of the worry formula is understanding thought, not the content, but the nature of thought.

When we talk about “thoughts,” we’re not just talking about our brain’s electrical activity but also what those thoughts mean and how they affect us.

There’s a difference between thinking, “I’m going to lose my job tomorrow”, and thinking “, I can’t control what happens at work.” The latter thought may be true, but it doesn’t have to be a source of fear and anxiety, and it’s just information. The first thought leads us to believe that something terrible is going to happen, which can cause us to feel stressed out or panicked—and that feeling is what makes us stressed out or panicked.

In other words: worrying isn’t just about having thoughts about adverse events; it’s about believing those thoughts will come true or having them affect our behaviour in negative ways (like avoiding certain activities or people).

Worry can be a vicious cycle. You worry about something; then you worry that you’re worrying too much, which makes it harder to stop worrying. If this sounds familiar, it’s time to take a step back and learn how to understand the nature of thought.

When you worry, you’re telling yourself that your thoughts are real, and they aren’t! Thoughts are just thoughts—they aren’t facts or even likely to become facts. Even if you have a bad thought once in a while (like when you’re stressed), that doesn’t mean that everything else is going to go wrong, and it just means you had one bad thought in one moment of your life.

Understanding this will help you move past your worries and begin living more fully in the present moment.

In Conclusion

Instead of trying to push away negative thoughts and worries, lean into them. Explore them, understand them, and accept them. When you’re willing to “go with the flow” and let your mind wander, you often find your worry unfounded.  

 

If you want to explore more about leaning into your worry, express you interest here by signing up to this wait list.

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MY NAME IS…

Janet Rhynie

I believe my purpose and passion is to educate, equip and empower you to live the life you know you were meant to live.

Discover more about me and how we can work together here.

In Conclusion

I created the Catalyst Approach to assist you, you who have a passion and desire to share your understanding of the principles so it can change the lives of others. For you who may be holding back because you are not sure what to do or how to start, The Catalyst Approach will give you clarity and understanding of yourself and what you want to bring to the world.

Want to know more about the catalyst approach? Click here to book a call

MY NAME IS…

Janet Rhynie

I believe my purpose and passion is to educate, equip and empower you to live the life you know you were meant to live.

Discover more about me and how we can work together here.