Worrying is hard to overcome because in a strange way, it actually makes a lot of sense to your mind. First, you imagine risks...and sometimes you are right. So, how do you overcome anxiety when you don't even think it's a problem? Deepak Chopra shows you how.
Worrying is such a prevalent habit that many worrywarts don't recognize themselves as anxious. . In fact, many worriers often feel justified. Why not turn the car around to double check that the doors are locked? Why not worry about how unsafe the world is because of global warming and terrorism?, Convinced of its own beliefs, worry is anxiety backed up by excuses invented by the mind.

Worriers Believe They're Doing Good.
In a strange way, worriers believe they are doing something good by protecting ourselves and others from danger. Since our minds are filled with every conceivable risk, we wind up being right some of the time. Like hoarders who never throw anything out, worriers uses the same logic . If one item proves useful, it justifies keeping a hundred that aren't. We don't see the obvious: worrying about ninety-nine useless things is a waste of time and emotion. But until we can accept this fact, we will feel justified. Far from making a positive contribution, worriers slow things down, throw up needless obstacles, and increase anxiety in everyone else. In the end, we usually wind up being shut out and ignored. In response to being ignored, we worry even more.

The Need to Worry
Worriers feel the need to worry. If this need isn't fulfilled, we fear calamity. Who will keep things in one piece if we aren't doing the worrying that is so desperately needed? But, this obsessive behavior blocks deep insecurity by giving the mind a "solution" that feels convincing even though it is utterly false: the more I worry, the safer we will be. To turn the mind around, we must be given better reasons to not worry than to worry.


Next: How to change your worrying ways
Published 02/16/2011

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