Everyone does it. Some more or less than others. It’s a parasite with citizenship to your brain that conjures up everything that could go wrong. It paralyzes people from things that aren’t the smartest but make some pretty good stories. Like the government, worries are all around us, but they both seem to be a pointless burden.
Now, I understand worrying induces anxiety, and we are at a time in a society where we’ve realized everyone’s brain chemical balance is all messed up in their own special way. And we’ve all had our own dark days and mental thunderstorms. In other words, mental health is becoming more recognized than ever has before. Woo! But there comes a time where it’s mental health or it’s something you just gotta get over. Oops, was I too honest?
I don’t apologize for the honesty, but I am not going to 100% shame someone who is consumed by nightmare scenarios because evolution is a mile behind reality.
A lot has changed in the past 100 years, heck a lot has changed from when I was in kindergarten in 2005. And a new computer model can change faster to new software than the human brain can adapt to an iPhone update. In the book The Mysteries of Human Behavior, professor Mark Leary explains the un-updated environment humans live in. Today, humans live in a Delayed Return Environment. This condition forces humans to be constantly thinking about the far future rather than the immediate future when it comes benefits and consequences. If we were to think and worry about just the immediate future, our stress would be relieve faster, but due to long-term thinking we have adapted to this environment which stretches our worries. For example, you work hard in a sport season in target for state championship. Along with that, you meet your friend’s boyfriends and you see how happy they are together. You then begin to worry that you might not ever find the love of your life. Ya know, the typical worries of any middle school girl.
But either way, humans live in an environment that forces us to think and worry about the future. Although we have little control over the pace of time, we do have control what we do with our worries. A worry is defined as a state of anxiety and/or uncertainty over actual or potential problems. Although this word can be turned into a verb, there is no effective action in worrying. The key words mentioned in this definition is actual and potential. If you are dwelling on an actual problem, like an upcoming exam, well, here’s a crazy idea, maybe study. If you’re worried you won’t be able to pay your mortgage, you might want to consider a new financial advisor. And when it comes to potential, there’s only some reality to it. There’s no point to sitting around and allowing worries to consume your whole being. If you really are wasting that amount of thinking on something, chances are, you should probably be doing something about it. No matter what, when it comes to worrying, taking action is your best friend and worry prescription.