Why Worry?

Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash

'Now That All Your Worry' - by Hafiz 

(Translated by Daniel Ladinsky)

Now that all your worry has proved such an 

        unlucrative business,

Why not find a better job?

I can worry, despite my best efforts not to do so. I can rehash a conversation, fret over something I've done or said, bring to mind a painful memory, feel anxious about an up-and-coming hospital appointment, lie awake at night turning over and over how I can best try to sort out a problem faced by a loved one. Yet, it makes no difference. All of these things are simply in the mind. They are projections into the past or the future, not related to the present moment. Fretting and feeling anxious changes nothing, and often makes a small problem seem even bigger..

The poet Hafiz suggests (above) that we could actually choose not to worry. That's easier said than done for someone who's just been made redundant, is facing an operation or is going through a relationship breakup. It's human nature to worry, although perhaps some waste more time doing so than others. At least we could try, as Hafiz encourages us, to spend our time more profitably on something else.

Perhaps for you, right now, that 'something' is to write?

Writing Prompt:

• Write down three things you have worried or been anxious about this week. Next, really explore why you were worried about them? Was it, for example, because you had no control over a situation, or you were afraid of being hurt physically, or emotionally? Finally, write down what was the outcome of your worry. Did anything change? Did a painful memory, for example, become sweeter? Write about how it made you feel in the body.
• Now make a list of things you could do that would be more 'lucrative' than worrying. It may be only a small thing, like going to the kitchen and making yourself a cup of tea, making a start on that novel you got for Christmas, or going outside for a walk. During the coming week, when you catch yourself starting to worry, or become anxious, consciously try to stop and put your energy into something more profitable.