While there may be some truth to the quote “worrying is nothing more than misuse of the imagination”, at Rainbow in the Puddle we believe we can sometimes use worrying for good if we know how we can turn it into problem solving.
Most of us realize on a logical level that simply worrying alone really will not improve our well-being, but we forget to think further into how we could use that worry for good.
Let’s make sense about it. If you’re worried about your health and you know you are doing some pretty unhealthy things, then a little worrying may prompt you to change things, and that is actually an example of worrying becoming a catalyst for positive and empowering change.
One of Rainbow in the Puddle’s positive life strategies is, Turn Fear into Friend. To apply this strategy to worry, ask yourself these three questions.
1) What am I afraid of and why am I afraid? Worry is fear based. Face what you fear head on. (clarify).
2) What awareness and insights does my fear bring? (starting point of change / transcend)
3) How can I use my fear to help me and maybe even help others? (use the negative)
Worrying is like any other emotion, if you don’t learn how to control it, it will control you! These steps will help you use your worry so it doesn’t use you!
Applying these steps to worry will allow you to, 1) become clear about what you fear, 2) transcend your thoughts from destructive to productive, and 3) move you from a negative life strategy to a positive life strategy.
If you apply this technique regularily you will begin to "rewire" your brain to new thinking patterns and new automatic systems that help you optimize a negative emotion. When you move from dwelling on negative feelings and situations to using them to create positive outcomes, it is at this point that you enter resourcefulness and begin to flourish. Your life becomes full of possibilities.
You can apply positive life strategies to any feeling or situation in your life and that is how possibilities turn into realities. As I've said before, this is what a high achiever does; they use the negatives in their lives as opportunities.
The difference between worrying and problem solving is the difference between a negative life strategy and a positive life strategy.
