One of the most common and destructive daily habits that people get caught up in certainly must be the habit of worrying.
You can read this interesting article about fears: 3 Ways to Face Your Fears With Courage
“Our fatigue is often caused not by work, but by worry, frustration and resentment.”
– Dale Carnegie
Negative noise is everywhere in our society, but it’s also inside our heads. Worry is the loudest internal noise, and as a therapist, I understand how easy it is to let it creep in. We need to remember that worry is not love, and that in fact giving up worry is the most loving thing you can do as a parent or in your work.
Besides emotionally hindering us, worry limits the quality and the quantity of life. Researchers from Harvard found that anxiety and fear destroy the proteins at the end of our chromosomes called telomeres, which dramatically speeds up the aging process. And I am sure that you (same as me) want to be around a long time for your children, parents, friends, and family, so you need to cancel the noise.
The best antidote to worry is its polar opposite: gratitude for the present.
Worry asks, “What bad things could happen?” Gratitude asks, “What great things are actually happening?” Take two minutes to write down 10 things you feel positive about—your children, your values, your faith, your character. Then share them with your family or on Facebook. Researchers at the University of Chicago found that when people wrote about their positive feelings for a few minutes, they significantly lowered their levels of worry and harmful cortisol levels. And, incredibly, it raised their performance on tests of memory and critical skills by 10 to 15 percent.
By emitting positive energy and canceling out that internal noise, you can get back the signal that leads to meaning, success, sustained happiness, and even longer, healthier life.