Why Should I Worry?
Tomorrow Thinking
“Some people are making such thorough preparation for rainy days that they aren’t enjoying today’s sunshine” William Feather – 1889-1981, Author
In the past couple of posts, we were talking about living in the now and about ‘tomorrow thinking”. “Tomorrow thinking” if you remember is using time today to think about something in the future. Goals for instance are a good form of “tomorrow thinking” that applies time and action today and apply it to what we want in the future. We used writing an obituary and writing a bucket list as a way of determining what our passions are and our longest term goals. Though this is a positive form of “tomorrow thinking”, there are also destructive forms of “tomorrow thinking”. One of the most common is worrying.
Worrying is the negative side of daydreaming. Worrying is ruminating over everything that can go wrong with a given situation.
Negative things do happen and we should be prepared for those negative things. For instance, in marketing, it is a good idea to know the possible objections so that you know how to counter them. That is different from worrying. Thinking about what could go wrong and then deciding to do what you can to keep whatever negative things from happening is one thing. Worrying is another.
Worrying is getting stuck in a rut of ruminating about what could go wrong and not looking for any solutions. Worrying focuses on the problems that may or may not happen.
As noted in Matthew 6:25, here’s what Jesus Christ said about worry:
“Therefore I tell you, so not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes?
26 Look at the birds of the air; they do no sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they are?
27 Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? …
31 “So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’
32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them!
33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all of these things will be given to you as well.
34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”
Of course, bad things happen. Because of this, some people feel as though worrying is not only something they can do, it is something they are obligated to do. I know a few women who think that if they aren’t worrying about their family members that they don’t care about them. That couldn’t be further from the truth. Worrying does not make you a better person. It just directs energy into a detrimental negative pattern.
Do you tend to worry about what life has to offer? Have you ver tried to stop? What methods have you used to stop worrying?
The way that I keep from worrying includes:
- Realize that what I am doing is worrying.
- Determine what I can actually do about something other than ruminating about whatever it is that I am worrying about.
- Take action where I can.
- If I am worried about another person, I will call that person and tell them my concerns.. If that person doesn’t heed my advice, I will let it go. It’s that person’s life and I gave my opinion so it is out of my hands.
- Recognize when there really is nothing that I can do and then journal about why worrying will not do me any good.
- If there is nothing I can do about what I am worried about, then I take some action in an area where I can and use the energy that would have been used in worry and use it more constructively..
How do you deal with worry?
Book V of the Locket Saga: In the Shadow of the Mill Pond
Now Available in Paperback with 40% discount! Click here to buy now. Taking Preorders for Kindle Edition until May 6! Order now!
B) In the Shadow of the Millpond by Cygnet Brown
In Book V of the Locket Saga, fifteen-year-old Lacey Mayford has been infatuated with Matthew since she was a little girl. Matthew, a half-breed Indian, doesn’t see her as anything more than a little girl cousin. How can she convince him that she is growing into a beautiful young woman he should consider?
In the frontier town near the turn of the century, Matthew Thorton is blamed for Luther Hannibal’s murder after an altercation with Luther over stolen furs. Lacey defends Matthew with the help of a teacher, Felix Grackle. They look into other suspects who could have killed Luther Hannibal. Matthew’s father Luke and his best friend Jacque Pierre are looking for the person responsible for stealing the furs. They believe the thief might have something to do with Luther Hannibal’s murder.
A vigilante group seeks to avoid the imposed whiskey sales tax. The group goes to extremes; they steal the US mail and tar and feathering U.S. government officials who attempt to collect those taxes.
Will Lacey be able to clear Matthew’s name? Will Luke and Jacque Pierre find the man who stole the furs? Will the vigilantes stop the Whiskey Rebellion without bloodshed? The truth is far more sinister than anyone could imagine.
Author Cygnet Brown 
This is one of the great differences between me now and me ten years ago. Worry is gone. I finally learned to live in the here and now, to accept my actions, and their consequences, and move on.
Getting rid of worry keeps you younger too.