Don't Worry. Just Don't!

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It was the great American author, Mark Twain, who wrote "Drag your thoughts away from your troubles... by the ears, by the heels, or any other way you can manage it."

Isn't it remarkable how much time we devote to worrying, to something that has absolutely nothing constructive about it and has nothing to do with positive resolution? To clarify, I'm not talking about planning. I'm talking about worrying. Worry is the creation of imagined negative circumstances when none exist. Worry is a negative forecast when none is guaranteed.

Most of us would probably agree that worrying doesn't do us any good, but the reality is that often we find ourselves in circumstances that challenge our sense of comfort or security. So what do we do to deal with the onslaught of difficulty?

Dale Carnegie, in his book, How To Stop Worry and Start Living, lays out a great technique for working through worry. He suggests taking the circumstance that we are worried about and considering the worst possible outcome imaginable. Then starting with the worst and building up from there, slowly begin solving those worst case scenarios. After doing this for a bit you'll discover that your current predicament isn't really that big of a deal.

For example, lets say that your bank account is in overdraft and you can't pay your mortgage (which is not far from many people's circumstances). Let's start with the worse case scenario: that you are homeless and living on the streets. So let's solve that problem.

Do you have a friend or family member you can stay with? Have you thought about where the homeless shelters are located. Go ahead and make a list. Where are the food banks? Add those to your list. Make it detailed, remember, you need to treat it like a real scenario.

Well, suffice to say, after doing this for a while, you will be amazed how quickly you realize that your current situation seems much less overwhelming. And you will begin to understand that troubles are a lot like people - they grow bigger if you nurse them.