Don’t worry be happy – 10 tips to stop worrying

Has worry ever eroded away your happiness? Did your thoughts overwhelm you, and sap your energy and creativity? Did you lose sleep, eat too much, or too little, or just feel anxious? If so, it’s likely you were suffering from toxic worry.

A small amount of constructive worry can be good for us. It can help us avoid dangerous situations and prevent us from ruining our health and happiness. Too much worry, however, can negatively affect our lives, and the lives of those close to us.

How can we stop worry before it turns toxic? Here are 10 tips.

1. Think constructive thoughts
2. Focus on solutions
3. Visualize a positive outcome
4. Give it our best
5. Keep busy
6. Have faith
7. Look after ourselves
8. Relax
9. Ask friends and family for ideas to stop worrying
10. Get professional help

1. Think constructive thoughts

What are some more constructive ways to think about the situation you’re worrying about? Thinking “Everything is going wrong” or “Nothing turns out well for me” is destructive. Remember that thoughts have power. You can attract into your life the consequences of your dominant thoughts.

Challenge negative thoughts; regularly think positive affirmations and believe realistic and constructive philosophies. Examples of positive affirmations include:

• Things always work out well for me in the long-run.
• I succeed at everything I put my mind to.
• If they can do it then I can too.

These sorts of thoughts, when lodged in our subconscious mind, help banish worry and add extra happiness to our lives.

Question the thoughts you worry about.

• You might be worried about something that will never happen.
• Don’t jump to conclusions when you have no evidence for your beliefs.
• Focus on the positive aspects, not just the negatives.
• Avoid an all-or-nothing way of thinking; for example, instead of thinking, “If I fail this course, I’m a failure”, think, “If I fail, I’ll try again.”

2. Focus on solutions

Think of solutions to your worries and ways to achieve them. This is more constructive than letting worries take over your thoughts and take away your happiness.

Write down your worries with possible solutions next to them. Can’t think of any solutions? Meditation might help you find the answers. When you clear your mind, the answers might come to you.

3. Visualize a positive outcome

Instead of worrying and imagining the worst, instead visualize how you would like a situation to resolve itself. Visualization is using your imagination to visualize specific events occurring in your life.

Your imagination is creative, and what you imagine affects how you feel. Visualize uplifting results to feel happier.

Say you need to do a public presentation and you’re worried about it. Rather than imagining lots of things going wrong during your speech, instead imagine yourself talking confidently in front of the group. At the end of your presentation the audience applauds loudly, and people compliment you on a fantastic speech.

4. Give it our best

A good friend of mine gave me a coping strategy that’s helped me a lot over the years. She said we can’t control everything in life, no matter how much we plan, because things will happen that we can’t predict. If we do our best, then let it go and believe we’ll succeed, things usually work-out.

5. Keep busy

A great way to help stop worrying is to keep busy. We can help others or work towards our goals. These techniques can give us time-out from our worries. Helping others less fortunate can help put our smaller worries into perspective.

6. Have faith

Believing that there’s something greater and more powerful than us, which loves us and wants the best for us, can help us stop worrying. We don’t have to have faith to stop excess worry, but it can help.

7. Look after ourselves

It’s easier to cope with worry when we look after ourselves. Why? To have a happy and healthy mind, we need a healthy body.

Exercise regularly. Have healthy eating habits. Get enough sleep. Avoid cigarettes and excess alcohol.

8. Relax

Relaxation gives your body and mind a break from the stress caused by worry. When you worry your heart pounds, you breathe faster and your muscles tense-up.

Relaxation also helps you cope better with worry. Types of relaxation that are especially helpful include:

• yoga
• tai chi
• meditation
• breathing exercises
• progressive muscle relaxation exercises

9. Ask friends or family for ideas

Friends or family can be valuable resources for ideas about how to stop worrying. They might have been in a similar situation themselves, so have found ways to cope that could help you.

10. Get professional help

A good counselor or support group can be helpful. You might need to go to more than one counselor before you find one you like, but it can certainly be worth the effort.

Consider getting professional help if after trying various techniques to stop worrying, your thoughts are obsessive and distressing you.

written by Nyomi Graef