I hope your spring is off to a lovely start. It’s a very, very rainy night here in New England, and as I write this, my teenage sons and I are spelling each other as water is pouring in through a crack in the foundation of our house, and we’re sweeping the water (going on 7 hours now) into the sump pump drain. We’re also building an ark 😉
First an important and juicy reminder: the Heart-Centered Healing & Living Event takes place next weekend, on April 28, 29 in Medfield, MA, and we?ll be exploring the related topics of mindfulness, compassion, and compassionate communication. If you?re a spouse, partner, parent, teacher, manager, worker, collaborator, healing facilitator, nurse, executive, or any human that would like to create more productivity, sanity, liberation, and joy in your life experience, then this is right up your alley! Kim completely wowed our sold-out event in November, which ignited my determination to bring her back for more of her wisdom and genius. We still have 8 spots left in this amazing group of people that are gathering. Find out more, and learn how to register HERE.
Speaking of sanity and liberation, I’ve got some Mind Savvy musings to share with you today, prompted by a recent discussion with a Transformation Coaching client.
“I’ve had a lot of worries in my life, most of which never happened.”
– Mark Twain
So, Mark Twain isn’t my client, just to be clear (no, I don’t have the ability to communicate with the deceased), but the challenges that Cherise (the actual client) shared with me reminded me of this quote. It’s one of my faves. I don’t know about you, but I think it would be a pretty scary tally – of hours, days, years – if I added up all of the time in my life I have spent worrying about stuff that never happened.
Worrying is a natural reaction, as we’re actually programmed – from millions of years of evolution where we fought off predators – to mentally search our environment for danger. Thing is, most of us engaging with this love note don’t fight off predators, nor do we live in a war zone. Most of our “dangers” are things that don’t, in the grand scheme of things, actually matter – and worrying can become a habit of mind. Even the water pouring into my basement right now isn’t really a danger, and worrying about it won’t do much. I can’t change it – I can only manage it for as long as I can keep my eyes propped open with toothpicks, and then deal with any aftermath when I wake up tomorrow.
In the end, it’s about being clear on what we CAN’T influence, and letting that go as best we can, and then focusing on what we CAN influence. This way, we’re not adding grey hairs to our sweet noggin’ worrying about stuff we can’t really influence! (Important note: we don’t have influence over what other people do and say.) Some of my clients also find it helpful to do worry-noticing as a practice, in an effort to soften the worry habit. This means we effort to simply catch ourselves when we enter the worry cyclone, and many folks find it helpful to write the worry down. This turns into a named thing and our brain knows its been documented.
Reducing our worry can improve our sleep, improve our focus and productivity, and create a more joyful daily life experience. I invite you to bring Mr. Twain’s lighthearted, yet oh-so-true quote with you throughout your day today. Maybe try a worry-noticing practice and notice what shifts. Does your mind feel a bit un-shackled? Let us know in the comments below, and feel free to share your favorite worry-melting tips, too!
Create Vibrant Health: BodyMindSpirit?
With love & liberation of mind,
Laurie
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