Worry Sinks the Boat

Anxiety pokes a hole in the bottom of the boat.  If you don't plug the hole, your spirit will sink.

I have faced many problems and difficult situations in life, and have never found one that improved with worry.  Worry only multiplies negative energy.

Think about it for a moment.  If you worry about something bad that doesn't happen, you expend emotional energy needlessly.  If you worry about something bad that DOES happen, you expend emotional energy twice -- on both ends of the problem.

Why not just let things unfold -- and conserve your emotional energy until you actually have to deal with the bad situation?

We cannot control most of what we worry about.  This is our feeble attempt to manage the uncontrollable.  If you can't do something about it, then the issue is not a problem -- it is a fact of life.  No use fretting and stewing over something you cannot control.

Worry is contagious.  Verbalizing anxieties is like sneezing in the car -- you pass the virus on to everyone around you.  Pretty soon, everybody's negative.  Before spewing negative thoughts ask yourself if these are the kind of words you want to hear.  If not, change the channel.  You will receive whatever you dish out to others.

Like dandelions, it's best to nip worries at the first rising so they do not germinate and spread.  Where worries multiply, joy decreases.  It is impossible to be anxious-ridden and joyful at the same time.  One always expels the other.

There's a good reason why Jesus said, "Do not worry about tomorrow."  Every day has enough challenge without adding concerns about things that haven't reached us yet.  

This doesn't mean we shouldn't plan ahead.  Thoughtful foresight increases the odds of a good outcome.  The difference between planning ahead and worrying is the negative emotional energy.  Are you stewing your way forward -- or figuring it out positively?