Don’t Worry Be Happy

Take Control of Your Anxious Thoughts.

Worrying can take place at any time or place and our attempts to stop worrying oftentimes fail us and leads us to overly thinking about our problems, which only leads to increased depression and anxiety. Research shows that if you postpone worrying and revisit it at later time you will effectively decrease symptoms associated with stress (headaches/muscle tension), and increase a sense of well-being.

What does this look like you may be asking yourself? Well this looks like you assigning you problems a specific day and time to worry about them. It could be later today day or a couple of days from now. You have to:

1.  Make the decision that right now is not the time to deal with the problem.

2.  Then decide what day and time you want to deal with or address the problem but keep in mind the goal is to be solution focused instead of being fixated on your problem.

3.    Engage in a coping strategy such as writing it down, talking to someone about it will help you let go of the worry.

4.    If the problem constantly resurfaces before your schedule time to address them gently remind yourself that it’s not the time to worry about the problem but when the day come it will be the first thing you will give your attention to.

5. And last but not least when the time comes to address your problems pay attention to your emotions and how they influence you and then consciously decide on how to address the problem.

Problems are not the problem; coping is the problem. Virginia Satir