Mothers worry a lot! And good fathers too! But fathers seem to be able to hide their worries better. But they worry too. When I left home and travelled the world, my mother worried that something bad might happen to me. It didn’t. When I started business she worried that I might not make it. I did after few years!
99% of my mother’s worries never came true. That’s about the same for my worries. And I think it’s pretty much a universal average. “Worry time is wasted time” I love my mother. She was the most caring, loving, giving human being I’ve ever known. In my eyes, she is a Saint. She is St Worry! I’ve also have in the past spent an awful lot of time in my life worrying. I’ve worried about grades in school, job interviews, approaching deadlines etc. I’ve even worried about having my house in perfect condition for “visitors” and within seconds of their arrival, the house is turned upside down and no one even notices the efforts to make the house extra clean.
Over the span of my lifetime, worrying accounts for hours and hours of invaluable time that I’ll never get back. And I guess that the same is for you too. You worry about your up-coming examinations, about friends, about money, about love and even about health.
Worry time is wasted time, why don’t you spend the time on addressing the situation, like studying instead of worrying, or speaking to your friends instead of speculations about what he or she thinks about you! You cannot afford to worry about things that are out of your control. If something doesn’t work out as you expect, start thinking about the way forward. Worrying will achieve nothing for you!
And yet there are people who worry about all the stuff that are never going to happen and never move on from what has happened. The only thing that worrying does is make you nervous and negative. Someone once said that “worry is the dark room, where negatives are developed! That’s it. It doesn’t solve anything. Sure you need to be concerned about things. Like your financial future and plan towards it. But you can’t worry about things beyond your control.
One more thing, worrying is destructive to us in many ways. It becomes a mental burden that can even cause us to grow physically sick.
Here are a few strategies for combating worry and getting back into a positive outlook for your life as a student or a business person.
- A L Williams wrote a book called “all you can do is all you can do……..” He said that taking action is the secret to success and reducing worry. You have to do what you can. And that’s all you can do. After that, it’s not in your hands anymore. You did what you can do If you have done all you can do, then that is enough. If you honestly do all you can do, that will be enough to make it. You just have to keep doing it. People with worse situations than yours have made it. You can make it!
- Hang around positive people – your associations really affect your attitude. Turn off the news about the disasters. Go to places (and to people) where you can get some inspiration! Worry will make us fearful and irrational. Fear will make us worry. They are cousins!
Fear is the expectation that something may go wrong, and it’s your mind telling you must prepare for something. Have faith that things will go right for you.
If fate is what happens to you, DESTINY is what we do with it. Don’t worry about fate; take control of your destiny. Do it now. Use your power and I will see you at the top.
Tola Adeliyi
