Worry, Worry, Worry

 Worry is the number one way that human beings give away their present moment happiness.  And the average human being gives away literally years worth of life to this negative behavior.  Most of us are so accustomed to worry that we have no idea how much or how often we do it.  It is robbing you of your happiness.       Lets look at the anatomy of worry.  Worry is: thinking (with fear) in the present moment, about a future moment.   It most often involves wanting something not to happen, or fearing something you do want will not happen.  Why do we worry?         Because we can.         As trite as this sounds, it is a very real part of the answer.  We are the only species on the planet actually capable of worrying.  This is explained by the fact that within the last three million years  the human brain went through a huge transformation.  It more than doubled in weight due primarily to the development of the Frontal Lobe.  This area of the brain is the entity that allows human beings to imagine themselves into the future. No other animal on the planet has a Frontal Lobe as developed as ours.  This unique part of the brain is our time machine.  Without it we would be forever trapped in the present moment.  With it, we can foresee tomorrow.    

     Researchers have determined that for the average human being, about 12 percent of their daily thoughts are about the future.  And it turns out that we future trip for a variety of reasons.  Pleasure is one of them.  We have the capacity to imagine infinite scenarios in which positive, fun, successful, lucrative events occur – and we actually enjoy these imaginings as if they are real.  This type of trip into the future stimulates the pleasure centers of the brain just as a real time occurrence does.    

     Not all our journeys into the future are positive.  In fact, most of us take the pain train into tomorrow more frequently than we board the pleasure cruise.  We imagine all manner of un-pleasantries, problems, screw ups, tragedies, and disasters.  These are not enjoyable forays into the future, so why do we insist on them?  

     When asked why they worry, human beings generally answer one of two ways.  They either say, “Because I can’t help it.”  Or, they insist, “To keep bad things from happening.”  The  interesting thing about these answers is that they are both wrong.  Worry is not thrust upon us, it is a choice, and for most people, a habit.  And believing that worry has any ability to control the future is magical thinking.     

     To break the worry habit, you first have to stop believing that worry is effective.  What were you worried about last year at this time?  What were you worried about two months ago?  What has become of those worries?