Today we ask you to stop “worrying about the future.”
This advice may sound like madness. Surely, a wise man worries about his future. How else can he protect himself and his loved ones? Only fools do not worry about the future.
And yet be assured that it is a terrible waste of energy.
Imagine that you are given a tank full of fuel. Worrying about the future is the equivalent of poking a hole in the tank. It is a continuous energetic drain.
If any of you feel like you are not able to accomplish your goals, or struggle with fatigue or other chronic health issues, examine your mental habits around “worrying about the future.” You may be losing precious creative energy down this sinkhole.
There is a great difference between “making plans” and “worrying about the future.”
“Making plans” happens in the present moment. For example, let’s say you wish to travel somewhere. You must make travel arrangements: decide when you want to go, arrange your schedule, book tickets and accommodations. All these things you can start to do right now.
“Worrying about the future” is what happens when you worry and agonize over these travel plans. Will the weather be okay? Will the hotel be okay? Are you spending the right amount of money?
Can you see the difference between “making plans” and “worrying about the future”?
“Making plans” is sensible. If you wish to accomplish some specific goal, it is useful to make a plan that you can commence enacting in the present moment.
“Worrying about the future” is suffering over things that have not yet happened and that you have no control over. You are projecting negative imaginary scenarios in your mind, and feeling real fear and panic around these mental phantoms. It is a pure energetic drain.
“Worrying about the future” is a useless and destructive activity. It does not protect you or your loved ones from anything. All it does is exhaust you, and keep you stuck in a lower vibrational state. In this state, you will be prone to making poor decisions. You will also be prone to acting out at the people around you — reacting to the phantoms in your worried brain, as opposed to the real situation in front of you.
Haven’t you experienced this? Say you are worrying about the future, and someone asks you an innocent question. Aren’t you prone to answering with a sharp tone? You are reacting to the fear in your brain, not the person in front of you.
For example, someone is worried because he is infatuated with a person, but the object of his desire has not returned his latest message. He is imagining futures in which he is rejected and feels horrible. Now, some co-worker asks an innocent question about a project he is working on.
Isn’t it likely that he will answer with a sharp, defensive tone, because he is feeling agitated about his romantic problems? Now the co-worker may take offense and feel slighted, or even think that this person is not a good member of the team.
This is why the act of “worrying about the future” is highly destructive.
Take action in the present moment. If there is something you wish to do, make a plan, and take a step toward it today. That is a healthy use of energy, and you will accomplish your goals if you do this.
But do not get caught up in worry.
This includes your major global issues.
If you are perturbed by an issue in your world, make a plan to do something about it that involves an action you can take in the present moment.
Worrying about things you cannot control and can do nothing about is a pure waste of precious life energy. It causes far more harm than good.
Make plans, yes. But do not “worry about the future.”
wordfromthewell 