Three Steps to Reduce Worry

What is worry. If worry is concern for the future, then that doesn't sound so bad. We should be concerned for our future. Worry is a focus on a negative outcome for the future. Worry carries with it the belief that the future will not only be bad, but it will be overwhelming. Worry can consume us.

To reduce worry, you must take control of your thoughts, not let them control you. Here are three steps to reduce catastrophic thinking that fuels worry:

Step One: Become aware of your tension level. Tension can provide you with a signal that you are worrying. Tension is your body's way of gearing up for a future battle.

Step Two: Ask yourself whether your thoughts are focused on the past, the present or the future. Worry focuses on the future. Worry questions, "What is coming next?" Some folks spend so much time worrying about the future that they fail to appreciate the present. The saying, "Stop and smell the roses" addresses this shortcoming.

Step Three: Allow your worry to lead you to the worst outcome. Now determine whether that outcome is actually overwhelming. Certainly, you can imagine many unfortunate outcomes, but is the outcome completely overwhelming? Sometimes it seems to be. We imagine certain illnesses or losses to be overwhelming. But the reality is that people live through those situations that we imagine to be overwhelming. Imagine yourself surviving this worse-case scenario.

You would think that imagining the worse-case scenario would simply fuel the worry, but the opposite happens. Confronting the darkest outcome helps you to put it in its proper perspective. Now you can ask yourself what the chance of this outcome happening is? You can see other possible outcomes that are less dark. You can begin to see yourself as a survivor of whatever the future holds in your life.