5 Keys to Help You Wash Away Worry in Tough Times

Are you worried about everything that’s going on?  If the answer is no, then you must know where the secret cure for the coronavirus is.  The fact of the matter is, everyone’s anxious.  The more events unfold, the more questions there are about what happens next.  While worrying is a natural thing to do in times of stress, it’s not healthy to allow your consciousness to be engulfed by anxiety. The best way to deal with worry is to take charge of your emotions. Fight against the pressure to despair, and focus your energy on positive thinking.  Here are a few tips on how to free your mind from fear during chaos: 

     1. Make a List of What You’re Thankful For:If you can’t stop worrying about this and that, take a pause, and write down all of your deepest concerns. Once this list is finished, draw up another right beside it and counter each fear with all the wonderful things happening in your life right now. You might discover that your worries are a little less extreme when you take a moment to balance them against blessings.

     2. Live in the Moment: Yes, sometimes life is very urgent. However, chances are, no matter how many nightmare scenarios are tormenting you, they likely won’t happen all at once in the blink of an eye. If you have something stressful to do, or something difficult to confront, take things one moment at a time.  Stop overthinking about the future or grieving over the past. Be concerned with the here and now.

     3. Reflect on What You’ve Survived in the Past: When was the last time you felt extremely stressed out?  Did it feel like your whole entire universe was going to unravel?  Did you survive all the same? If that went okay, why not this? You’re a lot stronger than you realize. Tap into that strength to keep on keeping on.

     4. Trust Your Instincts: If you’ve already done the best you can to prepare for the worst, there’s no point being hard on yourself, all things considered.  Life is about making the best decisions you can possibly make, to the best of your knowledge and abilities. All you can realistically, do is try your best.

     5. Temper Your Expectations: Remember, nothing is ever as bad, or as good, as you think it will be.  Don’t work yourself up into a frenzy trying to predict the future or control your fate.  Sometimes uncertainty has to emerge, transpire, and pass, on its own.

     Healthy worry has allowed humans to survive and thrive as a species for centuries.  However, unhealthy worry happens when our protective instincts become provoked to the point of extreme impulsive response. The key to keeping things together lies in good mental health.  Be mindful of your emotions, and don’t allow them to intensify for superficial reasons.  The fact of the matter is you can’t control how life unfolds, but you can control the way you react to life’s events.  So choose to react constructively.  Choose to make a positive impact even though everything you feel is negative.  At the end of the day, what you feel doesn’t really matter as much as what you do.  So do the right thing – now and always.