Worrying is a drag - literally! It's your mind on autopilot, reproducing a repeating cycle of low-grade fear-based thoughts that drains your energy and keeps you from fully engaging the world. When you're preoccupied with thoughts of some imagined negative future (I might be getting the flu.....my boss won't like how I handled this project...what if I lost my job?...) The long term consequences of chronic worrying are a sense of powerlessness and victimhood, and related physical dis-eases (you probably will get the flu!).
Well, the van's advertising was for an appliance repair service! A phone call to this business would give you freedom from worrying...that your refrigerator might go on the blink in the middle of the night. Hmm. I wonder how many folks are actually worried about such things these days? I mean, aren't we supposed to be worried about more important or threatening possibilities like health care (lack of), the economy, H1N1....
Lately, I've learned to check in with how things actually are if I find myself thinking a worrying thought. Those thoughts usually begin with the phrase "What if...?", and more importantly, are always located in future, which does not exist in this moment. In this moment, I notice I'm always fine. And in fact, if I dig into the past even a little, I can't really recall a time or instance when I wasn't ok. Even in the middle of the darkest moment I can remember, I can now see that I was actually ok.
So, I guess that's my phone call for worry-free living.
