Many of us worry all the time, especially if we’re parents. We worry about getting the kids to school, how their studies are going, getting to and from sports and music lessons, getting them to college, or their success in general. We worry about work, the dog, dinner, whether we remembered to call our friend back.
If you’re like me you also worry about school shootings, deadly diseases, or another world war. We worry about finances and politics and other things that are relatively meaningless.
Recently I learned a new life hack and managed to implement it well this morning. It’s called Worry Time. Here’s how it goes.
Pick a day and time of the week that you decide to worry and set up an alarm. Mine is Monday mornings at 8:00. Then any time you catch yourself worrying about something remind yourself that it’s not worry time and you’ll have to wait until your scheduled time to worry. I set my alarm several weeks back and for the first few weeks I wasn’t in the habit of worrying at my scheduled time. Finally this week I was able to catch myself a few times and remember that it wasn’t worry time.
This morning when my alarm went off I took the opportunity to worry about things. As I was driving to work I allowed myself to worry out loud about kids, family, politics, natural disasters, wars, etc. Just as I was finishing my list, which incidentally took only about 2 or 3 minutes, I came over the mountains and the view literally took my breath away. The sky was a beautiful baby blue with a few scattered fluffy white clouds. In the center of the clouds was an opening that allowed the rays of the sun to break through. The surrounding hillsides were full of windmills churning air into electricity.
That moment was so profound and beautiful. Imagine all the time and energy we waste worrying about the past or the future. We stress ourselves out and miss the beauty of the present. I was able to fit all of my worry into just 2 or 3 minutes, and then mother nature filled my soul with a breathtaking view of the present. It set such a positive tone for the day.
So my challenge for you this week, should you choose to accept it, is to set a “Worry Alarm”. Decide which day and time is best for you to worry and decide how much time you’ll devote to it. Will it be 5 minutes? Thirty minutes? Just decide. You can always tweak it later. Then each time you start to worry remember to wait until Worry Time. Tell us how it goes in the comments below.
Good luck!