2.19.2007

Don't Worry, Be Happy

I worry too much. I think I was born a worrier. Yet the universe keeps showing me that I don't need to worry about anything.

Just 2 recent examples: I have a client who is chronically mentally ill. Our sessions were really not productive and I found myself dreading them. However, I felt like I couldn't terminate for several therapeutic reasons, and I didn't want to be unethical. Well, he called me today to tell me that he had moved to a different part of the city. So, problem solved for me and it sounds like a better gig for him, too. The other thing is the tire situation. I really did not want to sit at the auto place on President's Day, waiting for a replacement tire this morning, so I came home. I emailed the place to ask about the wait, and lo and behold: they didn't even have the tire in stock! He had to order it. (And he's also going to be able to save me about $25 this way, too)

I've always known intellectually that worrying is a waste of time, yet it is so difficult to turn off sometimes. What have you found yourself worrying needlessly about? How has it resolved for you?

6 comments:

Primo said...

Hi, I take it that you're a neuro. I was wondering if you could tell me what is the scientific cause of worrying. Is it a chemical that gets released in our brain which caused anxiety or mixed emotions? I too have a worrying problem. I think about the future too much, and I forget to live the present. Of course, I'm as puzzled as you are...

StaceyG said...

Primo I know that GABA is the neurotransmitter that needs a boost when we are anxious, and that cortisol and other stress hormones get released. I'm not sure about the biological mechanism of worrying, though. I do know that it can get into a spiral or a circle and seem never-ending.

Jillie Bean (AKA Bubba's Sis) said...

Worrying MUST work because nothing I worry about ever happens!

cjm said...

It's true. It seems like things always work themselves out (whether you worried or not). I have good times where I can remember that even in the midst of a stressful situation and others where I get sucked in.

Anonymous said...

I worry about wondering if worries out of my control are worth worrying about, then I worry about why I worry about such things when so many other worrisome things are worry-worthy within my control.

It gets to be too much. Then I say to self:

Don't worry about it.

lattégirl said...

I don't worry needlessly, I worry with PURPOSE. ;-)