Overvaluing our worries

It came as a shock to me the first time I realized that I believed everything that my mind says. As part of my meditation and mindfulness journey, I started to look at my thoughts and beliefs.

One of the most limiting beliefs I held was that I assumed that everything my mind was saying was absolutely right.

I never took the time to question the thoughts and the beliefs behind the ideas. Questioning my beliefs is one of the most life-transforming practices that I have been doing in my life. There are multiple ways to challenge your beliefs, for me, an easy way to do it is a take a pause and ask a question.

One of the things that I have been working on is letting go of my worries. I use to catch my self worrying all the time about things that I didn’t have no control of. But mostly about the future. In my mind, I was always trying to create a forecast and prepare myself for bad things to happen.

If you expect the worse, then you are prepared for it. Right?

Now I feel very differently about my worries about the future. First, because I have read a lot on the subject and found plenty of research that validates that most of our fears are just fears in our heads, that will NEVER HAPPEN.

Stay present

I have realized that the only thing I have to do is deal with my present reality. This present moment is the one that matters. Living in the here and now is a lot less stressful.

Now I enjoy the freedom of being able to let of my worries on the spot.

Break the worry cycle

I usually ask myself this question: Do you have control of this worry right now? If I have to guess almost always, the answer is no. Most of the concerns are about things I can’t do much about.

Take action if possible

If I can take action about what I am worried about, I act straight away so I can let go of it as soon as possible. Then I can continue with living my life.

Pay attention to emotional wounds

Sometimes worries can be attached to deep-seated fears and can trigger a profound emotional reaction. We all know the gut sensation or the knot on the throat feeling when the worry touches an emotional wound.

In those moments, I find that it is beneficial to take a pause and connect with the emotion. Instead of feeding the worry, I connect with the sensations and reactions in my body.

I feel the sensations and welcome them. Then I take a few deep breaths and let go of the worry.

Change to better beliefs

Today, I believe that most of my worry is unnecessary and is just my mind attaching to limiting beliefs from my past. My past cannot determine my future.

Creating worry based on my past is a useless exercise. Letting go of my worries allows me to be calmer and have more mental balance. I chose emotional balance and inner peace instead of overvaluing my fears.

My thoughts are not right all the time. My mind’s predictions tend to get it wrong most of the time. Changing to this new belief has proven to make me happier and more resilient in my life.

One quote

“Paying to much attention to your worries is a useless exercise that can drive you to having an unhappy life.”
Tamy Khan

One question

What unnecessary worry has been driving you crazy today?