It is a universal fact that worries, along with accompanying stress and anxiety, play a significant role in our lives. They force the individual to live in irrational fear making it impossible to live normal life. They emit signals warning them of impending danger and how they should manage to get themselves out of danger. But actually emotions of stress, anxiety are necessary and are healthy as they warn us of impending dangers. But when an individual worries out of proportion imagining a danger and to an extent that it paralyses his rational faculty and power to act, this becomes a serious problem.
Worries can take heavy toll on your life
Excessive worrying takes a toll on our physical and emotional health. At times worry and anxiety immobilizes us. We fail to respond or act. This could be because we are afraid about certain things that are beyond our control. Or we are worried about things that have not yet happened. Unmanageable anxiety can lead to anxiety disorders and can have serious consequences affecting all aspects of our life. Since most of our worries are result of erroneous thinking, it is possible to overcome by clarity in thinking about its causes and to know how to overcome it.
Steps to overcome worries
The perfect remedy for unnecessary worrying is a self analysis. You must do an honest introspection. What is the cause of your worrying? Sometimes you will get the answer at once, whereas at times you will have to really think hard as some deep worries may be buried under superficial worries.
Instead of worrying constantly over an issue or a problem, you have to take some action to bring the situation under control. You must weigh the problem and find out if it is genuine or you have blown it out of proportion. If the problem is not so serious, you should be able to realize that your fears are unnecessary. Springing into action to solve the issue that is bothering you; channelizes your nervous energy and gives you reassurance against your worries. It is the ideal response to worries and fears.
After you have done everything possible, simply forget about it. Stop worrying at once. It is difficult, but you have to train your mind to do just that. You can get this control over your feelings by adopting few strategies for stress management like meditation, prayer, listening to soulful music. This will give your mind peace and help it to relax. It will not be constantly burdened with worries and anxiety.
The physical effects of stress can be kept at bay by following a regular exercise regime. But such acts must not be used as excuse to evade thinking and acting on the issue that is worrying you!
If you feel that stress or worries is going beyond your control, then you must confide in a friend or seek professional help in this regard. Talking to someone about your apprehensions and worries will relieve you of the stress of worrying too much unnecessarily. Many times your friends may give you different perspective about the issue and you may realize that your worry is irrational.
Worrying catches us at young age
Kids, pre teens, teenagers are victims of worry and anxiety. This is mainly due to wrong ideas of the world they get from their parents or environment. They may be victims of irrational fears about evil in the world without having means to know how to deal with them. The outcome is loss of confidence and fear of others. But in that age they have no way to understand the reasons for their fears.
It is the parents duty to observe the signs of anxiety and stress in their children and give them confidence. It is necessary to inculcate habit of frank discussion about one’s worries so that children do not try to hide their worries. This will help children to develop the ability to introspect themselves or have frank discussions with others, which are the best ways to overcome worries.
Teach children to overcome their worries
No doubt, worrying is due to error in thinking; in perception of reality and evaluation of the possible threat. But it can also become a habit of mind, which starts worrying at slightest adversities. Habits are formed by years of practicing good or bad things. So, one has to make sure that worrying does not take roots in young minds! A growing child has to face many situations that makes him fearful; like facing bullies in school, failing examinations, failure to attract friends etc. Unless these fears are analysed and explained to them they hide them and start worrying about them. But soon it becomes a habit though the causes for worries may change. But the pattern remains same. If children are made to understand how to face adversities by clear thinking, analysis and discussions, their future life will be free of worrying.
Conquering worries by facing reality
Worries intensify as we try to evade them, one must realize that only way worries can be overcome is by facing the reality. This means that we must take responsibility to our actions. But our actions must be based on realistic evaluation of the situation and we must estimate the worst loss that can happen. Many times, our actions could actually stop such losses but by being overwhelmed with worries we fail to act thinking about the possible disaster. “Stop worrying and start living” is not an empty slogan; unless you stop worrying you can not live in the way you wished to live!
