I’m a worrier. I worry about a lot of things. Things like am I prepared for this, what if something goes wrong, will they like me (interestingly, I don’t worry if I’ll like them), am I dressed appropriately, etc. I realized the other day that in response to my worrying, I tend to make plans.
For example, I worry about money, so I plan out a budget and do my best to stick to it. I worry about being bored on trips (especially on planes), so I pack plenty of things to do. I remember going on vacation as a kid and having a whole bag full of things to do (and being small enough that it fit on the floor in front of me because my feet didn’t quite hit the floor).
In those examples, I’d argue that my worrying had a good result, I planned in order to avoid the situation I worried about. However, what about those things that you can’t plan for? The worries of: will they like me or what if something goes wrong? What do you do then?
Honestly, I still battle this and I heard a quote last week that I’m sure I have heard before, but it never really registered.
“Fiddle-dee-dee! I won’t worry about that today. I’ll worry about that tomorrow. After all, tomorrow is another day!” ~ Scarlett O’Hara
It really struck me. Procrastination we can use! Imagine that. So, next time you find yourself worrying about something ask yourself two questions: 1) Can I plan for it? 2) If not, can I worry about it tomorrow? If so, repeat the questions tomorrow!
It sounds kind of silly, right? Let’s take a look at two examples.
Will they like me?
- Can I plan for it? Well, no not really.
- If not, can I worry about it tomorrow? Absolutely.
- Repeat steps 1 and 2 tomorrow!
What if something goes wrong?
- Can I plan for it? I’ve done all the planning I can do!
- If not, can I worry about it tomorrow? Yep.
- Repeat steps 1 and 2 tomorrow.
The beauty of this is it gives you permission to stop worrying about it! And a way to legitimately worry about it tomorrow (and in this case tomorrow never coming is a good thing!).
What do you do to stop worrying?