Thank you so much for your message. I have printed it out and will do my
best. It made me think about that joke the other day about hanging your
problems up on the tree before you go in the house. I KNOW in my head
worrying is not helping anything but sometimes my emotions get the better
of me and I'm not thinking logically. Thanks again.
Christine
At 12:50 PM 14/05/98 -0400, you wrote:
>Christine,
>
>I am a worrier, too, and here are some of the methods to deal with worry
>that I've either heard about, read about, or tried:
>
>1. Set aside a specific time per day (like 9:00-10:00 p.m., for
>instance) where you will do nothing else except worry. For the rest of
>the day, you must put aside your worries, reminding yourself that you may
>deal with them only at the appointed time.
>
>2. When you start to worry, say a mental "Stop!" and then switch to a
>pleasanter thought.
>
>3. Involve yourself in something that is entirely engrossing, so much so
>that you cannot concentrate on anything else while you're doing it.
>Meditation is excellent. (There's one meditation I saw where you
>visualize yourself putting all of your worries into a huge balloon and
>then letting it float off into the sky.) And I like working jigsaw
>puzzles. It requires rapt attention. Or put your photos into albums.
>Do anything that will require you to shift your focus. Get "The
>Relaxation Response." I haven't read the book yet, but I've used the
>technique. You breathe deeply in and out, slowly counting back from 10
>and progressively relaxation every part of your body until you're
>completely relaxed.
>
>4. Pray. One poem I read was about someone complaining that God didn't
>help him when he asked for help. God replies, "How could I? Whenever
>you turned over the problem to me, you kept taking it back again." How
>true.
>
>5. Ask yourself, "What is the worst thing that could happen?" "Will
>this be important 10 or 20 years from now?" "Is worrying about it going
>to make the outcome any different?" I waste a lot of my energy worrying
>about things. Remind yourself, "God, grant me the serenity to accept the
>things I cannot change, accept the things I can, and the wisdom to know
>the difference." Worry just drags you down further. Also, get a book
>called "The Feeling Good Handbook." It explains distorted thinking like
>tragedizing things, black & white thinking, projecting, personalization,
>etc. There's a blank form in it that you can copy whereby you can
>analyze your thoughts to discover what you own internal dialogue is and
>whether or not you're giving yourself distorted messages. It's
>excellent.
>
>6. Write out your fears in a journal. In fact, make it a dialogue.
>Pretend you are trying to comfort a friend who has these concerns. Write
>out what each of you would say & responses you would give. I bet you'll
>feel better when you're done.
>
>7. I read in one book that a good way to stop the mental loop of
>worrying is to get an answering machine tape and record your fears over
>top of it. Then sit down and overload yourself w/your fears until you
>are sick and tired of hearing them and you become less sensitized to
>those fears, your reaction becomes less strong each time you're
>confronted with your fears. Sort-of like people who are afraid to drive
>across bridges and go ahead & do it anyway until they become less fearful
>and more comfortable.
>
>I'm on medicine for depression right now that also deals with my
>obsessive worrying. It's called Luvox and it seems to help a great deal.
> Of course, you may not have the worrying compulsion that I do. I think
>exercising would help ease your worry, too. At least it would be a
>productive way to work off some of the anxiety and stress.
>
>I hope this doesn't sound too simplified. I don't mean it to be. These
>are just some recommendations from another person struggling with the
>same problem. I've wasted so much of my life worrying about things over
>which I have no control. It's such a waste of energy and time. I will
>pray that you find peace from your fears and anxieties and that
>everything turns out well for you. But will you feel like you spent
>your time wisely when you finally get your mammogram results, be they
>good or bad? Will you feel you were good to yourself by allowing that
>worry to take over your life? Would anything be different because you
>spent so much time worrying about it? Fill yourself with peace. Don't
>let this fear rob you of life and love of life. It is preying on you.
>That is all it is doing. You may not have control over what life deals
>you, but - as many have said on this forum - you have control over how
>you react to it. That's pretty strong stuff.
>
>-Jean
>
>
>
>
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