Don’t Worry, Be Happy

I’ll admit it:  I’m a worrier.  I worry about everything from my family to my job to how much sleep I’m getting to my weight.  You name it, I worry about it.  Big things, small things—I worry about all things.  Like right now, my worry is whether I’ll be able to find a guy to help me tomorrow to lift an old television out of my car and carry it to under the stairs in the building where I work where such things can be recycled.  I work with lots of guys, but I hesitate to bother them and am not sure how to approach them about this chore.  Should I ask the personal trainer who leads exercise class even though I only attend virtually?  He’s the strongest guy I know, but maybe he has to get to a personal training session after he’s done at our gym, and I would be inconveniencing him.  I could ask someone else I work with, but it might take two of them because the TV is really heavy.  My husband, who is really strong, says it should only take one guy, but I’m not sure.  From experience, I know it will work out fine, but still, I worry about it.

I can’t even count how much stuff I worry about.  My husband calls it “crazy brain.”  Rationally, I know worrying doesn’t change anything, but it still doesn’t keep me from doing it.  I come from a long line of worriers:  both of my parents are worriers as were their parents before them.  I’m not sure how many generations it goes back, but I know it at least goes back that far.  Maybe it’s some kind of survival mechanism?  Anticipate the worst, so you won’t be surprised when it happens?  Trouble is, when you worry, you’re anticipating that bad things will happen.  And what we all really want is for good things to happen.

So is it possible that Bobby McFerrin has it right in his song?  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-diB65scQU  If we don’t worry, will we be happy? It seems right to me.  But that’s easier said than done.  How do I go about stopping worrying and starting trusting that everything will be all right?  It seems hard to do with Covid, when Russia invades the Ukraine, and when I have a flight tire while driving down the highway.  Worry stems from fear, and it seems that my greatest fear is that harm will befall me or someone I love.  Yet ultimately we’re all destined for the same fate.  So why worry?  Why not just enjoy life and realize that everything works out for the best no matter how it works out?

Funny thing is, I’m actually working on this concept of worrying less and being happier.  I get close when I’m walking the dog or meditating or doing yoga or exercising to music I enjoy.  I also have to consciously let go of the things that I have no control over like what my kids are doing.  It’s hard and an ongoing process, but in the short bursts of time when I am able to succeed in this quest, I do feel happy!

Joke:  If my power comes from within, who do I see about getting a bigger engine?

Quote:  Worrying is using your imagination to create something you don’t want.

—Abraham Hicks

Advice:  Worrying less and trusting more will hopefully put you well on your way to a happy life.