"Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to suffering." ~Master Yoda~
Be aware of your fears, face them with
courage, for it is not that which you are afraid of that will destroy
you, it is the fear itself that has that power. It isn't always the
big fears that destroy our peace of mind, it is usually the little
fears, called "worries" that bring us suffering.
What are you worried about? Being in
the mindset of "what could go wrong" can work to your
advantage if you allow it to push you to be prepared with a plan "B",
or to take proactive steps to insure undesired outcomes are averted.
In contrast, excessive worrying about things you have no control over
will disturb your peace of mind.
Learn to distinguish between the
two types of worries If you can take action to prevent an
undesirable outcome, then be proactive or plan as you deem necessary.
Then let the thoughts go, by reminding yourself that you have done
what you can do and are prepared for whatever the future unfolds. If
you have no control over what you may imagine happening, then there
is no need to waste your mental energy upsetting yourself. Use
whatever methods you find work for you to jump off of the worry train
of thought. Being aware when you are caught up in worrying is one
step closer to stopping it.
Lesson:
Worrying is a waste of mental energy
and destroys peace of mind.
Exercise:
Begin to be aware of when your mind
wanders onto worries. When you are worrying take appropriate action
if possible to aleviate the worry. If the situation you are worried
about is out of your control then jump off the worry train of
thought. Take a slow deep breath and refocus your mind on being
present or more uplifting trains of thought. The more you practice
not worrying the less apt you will be to focus on things out of your
control. All thoughts feed on attention. Don't feed worries and
they go away.
