
How Worrying More Can Help You Worry Less
Are you a worrier? Are you
the sort of person who worries about anything and everything?
If so then
you may be able to help yourself by taking your worrying more seriously - and
spending more time on it!
A team of researchers in America have shown
that people who allocate fixed amounts of time for worrying suffer less torment
- and fewer side effects of stress - than people who always try to push their
worries into the background.
Most people worry in bits.
If you
think about it you'll see what I mean.
Your worries come and go during
the day and you never really get a chance to think them through. You worry for a
few minutes at a time and then your worrying is interrupted by the telephone or
the doorbell or by the need to do something practical - like go to work or get a
meal.
The evidence shows that you'd suffer far less if you allocated
thirty minutes a day for worrying.
And made sure that NOTHING
interrupted your worrying!
Keep a notebook and a pencil handy and every
time something worrying comes into your mind write it down.
Unless it's
really urgent don't worry about the problem now - wait until your special thirty
minute "worry session" starts.
When your personal "worry session" starts
turn off the telephone and go somewhere that you can't hear the doorbell. Make
sure that you won't be interrupted.
Then concentrate hard on each item
that you've put on your list.
Try to look at each problem from new
angles. Try to see things from other people's point of view.
Most
important of all look at each "worry" on your list and ask yourself:
"What's the worst that can happen?"
Then look for solutions.
Look for answers. Look for ways to deal with the worries and anxieties you've
accumulated.
You'll be amazed!
Most of the worries which
normally irritate and create tension for days or even weeks can be thought
through in a thirty minute "worry session".
By concentrating hard on
your worries you'll get a chance to put them into perspective. And you'll be
surprised at the many answers you find and how many problems simply disappear
when they're thought about properly.
Copyright Vernon Coleman
2003