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Time Thief: On Worrying

Why worry?

Because, fear.

Fear comes in thousands of shades of grey. It’s a numbing collection of hues that darken a sunny day, or make an overcast sky even more bleak.

Fear, in the colors of worry, is particularly tragic.

Worry defines a certain powerlessness, and a victimhood that can take root in our core self. It’ll gladly take residence right inside our hearts if we allow it. When we worry, we take on an unfortunate, massive trust in our distrust of all that is.

We live in a culture that has been heavily swayed toward the negative, where we worry about nearly everything: money, education, health, politics, the environment, the planet, the space around the planet, what’s under the surface of the planet, too much water, not enough water, waking, sleeping, living, dying, making a difference, our souls, our chakras, our sexuality, the size and shape of our bodies and body parts, wars, drugs, vaccines, chemtrails, winning the lottery, and what the hell to do when we win the lottery . . .

But, what is worry? Because, we clearly don’t function well with it. We maintain a basic survival, and we power through, but that’s not really living, is it?

Worry, is a symptom of believing in the linear way of things, and a way of superficially grounding, while at the same time, paralyzing ourselves. It’s about trying to control . . . everything. We want dominion over feelings, emotions, outcomes, circumstances, experiences, and stories. Why? Because, [of the perceived chance of] pain.

We. Hate. Pain. Yet, we have absolute trust in its existence and potential for misery. And thus, we attempt the illusion of control. The tragedy is, the human spirit just doesn’t respect it. Not one iota.

If we don’t control our thoughts, we’ll lose our mind, our choices, our will, our peace.
If we don’t control our kids, they’ll get out of hand, or get into drugs, or kill (us).
If we don’t control our finances, we’ll go broke.
If we don’t control our significant others, they’ll overpower us, or leave us.
If we don’t control lesser developed nations, through endless war, trade embargoes, and persistent propaganda campaigns, they may get a foothold in the world economy, earn an opinion and respect, and we can’t have that kind of level playing field out there . . .

The idea of control is malevolent, at best. It is damaging within, and without.

Fortunately, the pendulum never stops. And we’re learning to lessen its extremes through awareness and doing the work to unravel, unlearn, detach and disintegrate from the archaic ways of things.

Worry, like any feeling, is an excellent barometer, signalling that we need to look at something a little closer. Where does that worry come from? Who does it belong to? What do I get out of worrying about this?

To worry less, we have to practice shifting our energies toward a trust in the flow of life; life happens. Life is change. Life is immeasurable. Life, is.

Love your life,
tb