Don't Worry, Be Happy

One of the most difficult things to deal with in life is worry, there are literally millions of possible things you could be concerned about, that is if you choose to see it that way. Worry is like a parasite, with each thought it grows bigger, drains your energy and makes it harder and harder to move forward in life.

I know first hand how crippling worry can be, whether it be fear of the future or anxiety about what people think of me, once I become transfixed on a worry it turns me into an unhappy and somewhat obnoxious person. One situation where this still sometimes occurs is when I have to go to a doctor's appointment, when the appointment begins to loom my mind kicks into overdrive, this probably sounds reasonable for someone in my position but the amount I worry can get pretty extreme. At this point in my life I logically realize that they aren't going to tell me anything new, however I get some pretty crazy ideas in my head. There are moments I actually believe that if I don't get nervous I will somehow be karmically punished and they will find something... else wrong with me and I'll have two days to live or something to that effect. Ridiculous worries like these make me realize how easily thoughts can devolve into complete nonsense that defies all logic. Although I sometimes still get into this predicament I am much better than I used to be. I have learned over the years that there are very few useful things to be worried about. You must ask yourself is it worth it to be filled with worry all the time? Is it getting in the way of living your life right now? Like I said before there are so very many things that you can concern yourself with but the question is, should you? If your apprehension cannot affect the outcome of the situation it doesn't amount to a hill of beans(Love that phrase from Casablanca). I've witnessed good situations get infinitely worse and bad situations get infinitely better but one truth remains that worrying just makes everything worse. If you were to make the conscious decision to not worry, imagine the mental power that you could free up. To deal with worry we all have to come to terms with the frightening fact that the future is completely out of our hands. Most things in life are going to play out how they play out and fretting about it doesn't make any difference at all. Surrendering control to the unknown is something that is very difficult but I think is necessary to make the most out of life.