Member-only story
How to stop worrying
And start living
Worry and happiness are mutually exclusive. When we are worried, we can’t be happy, and when we are in a joyous mood, worries vanish. Worry and happiness are two sides of the same coin unless we can be happy independent of the world, people, and objects around us, a feat only few can master.
Happiness and worry are also not absolutes. There are moments in everyone’s lives when worry takes center stage in the mind, and there are times when we feel an abundance of joy. Life becomes rewarding if we can tilt the balance towards joy and away from worry.
Worry is like dust that settles on a table that has not been used or cleaned in a while. The moment any worry enters our mind, it begins to settle on every thought that comes into our conscious perception. Worry weighs down our entire body-mind complex. The mind feels heavier, and the body seems more sluggish and less responsive. Before we know it, we may take ourselves on a downward spiral from which it becomes hard to escape.
Worry always exists as a relationship between us in the present and thoughts about the future. Without thoughts of the future, there is no worry. It isn’t practical or necessary to completely ignore the future to live a worry-free life. Instead, if we work on the hidden engine of all worries — fear — we can disarm thoughts that make us…
