Were I to make a poll, were you to answer it honestly, I’ve an overwhelming suspicion that 99% of you would answer Yes, to the following question: Do I carry the unnecessary weight of worry on a regular basis? My hand is up, my answer is yes. From financial concerns, health worries, fears of inadequacy and irrelevancy in an ever-changing world, to the more mundane problems of what to make for dinner, or how much laundry is waiting to be done, there are ten million things a day that steal our attention, that bog us down with weight. We know, all this while, that the worry doesn’t help and never adds up to anything useful, but we worry all the same. We carry these burdens like Sisyphus and then marvel when the boulder of it all falls back onto us.
The question is, and please feel free to answer this, how do we break this cycle, how do we set down that weight and walk free from unnecessary worry? Buddha once spoke about how in life there are only two types of problems, the first being problems we can do something about, and if we can, then why worry? The second, are problems we cannot do anything to change, and if that’s the case, again why worry? There is much wisdom in this, but the problem comes in our own personal application of that wisdom. We know, but still we carry it. Why?
We know it fruitless,
yet still we carry the weight
of all this worry.
Haiku on Life by Tyler Knott Gregson
Song of the Day
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I've found the only way to release unnecessary worry is through spiritual practices. First, learning to quiet the mind and second, learning to surrender to what life brings. Both of these efforts foster mindful presence to be in the moment with trust that all is serving our highest Self and the only thing we have control of are our reactions in the now. I highly recommend Michael Singer's books, The Surrender Experiment and The Untethered Soul...both speak to these needs within us. It's possible to live without worry, but it takes practice.
I think as humans we instinctively and evolutionarily crave control over our environments. We want to feel safe and well cared for, and if there's things that don't align with that we worry or are anxious. Thankfully humans also have the intellectual ability to acknowledge the worry is pointless, but I know I'm awful at it! Letting it go, in whatever way feels right, is so crucial.