Worry
Approximately twelve times a year, I get to sit on an airplane. Setting aside the felt absence of my loved ones and the general inconveniences of travel, I love flying. The magnificent feat of air travel never fails to inspire me with a sense of wonder. I love having my head in the clouds, literally.
I shared this with a friend recently to which she immediately responded, but don’t you worry about the plane crashing??
Actually, I don’t. But her comment made me think about the idea of worry…and worry as distinguished from fear.
Worry is “to torment oneself with or suffer from disturbing thoughts; to fret”. It comes from Middle English weryen “to strangle, bite or harass”.
Fear, on the other hand, is “a distressing emotion aroused by impending danger, evil, pain, etc.” from the Old English faer “sudden attack or danger”.
With these etymologies, the idea that worry is somehow self-inflicted and divergent from fear, an emotional response to a threat, begins to take shape.
Continuing with the suggestion that worry is an action we are taking against ourselves, consider the following…action inherently takes energy. Second, we take some if not all action by choice.
By worrying, we are actually choosing to use our energy against ourselves.
One last consideration about worry…outcome. What is the typical outcome of those things we worry about? Studies show that the vast majority (85-97%) of our worries never come to pass. Maybe more compelling is the negative physiological impacts of this worry on our bodies and minds. Basically, all stress-related diagnoses apply to worry.
So it seems, as habitual as worry may be, it is a function of our powerful imagination and choice.
Today, I choose to use my power, my energy, and my imagination for good. Let’s fly…
