Ways to cope with stress - don't worry!

by Matt Hellstrom

How not to worry is a struggle I've had for my whole life. But recently I've made some observations and come to some conclusions that helped me to grow stronger in this area - that have really guided me down the path of finding the solution of how not to worry about everything under the sun.

If there is one thing I've been known for is that I'm a worrier. I can worry with the best of them. If you look up worry in the dictionary, there's a picture of me. I don't know if this is hereditary, or just learned, but my mom was always a worrier. Maybe that's where I got it from; I don't know. But I do know I worry a lot, and I also know something else: it never did me one ounce of good.

First off, no amount of worrying, none, will make things any different. I been concerned about my kids staying safe going to and from school. So I did a bunch of training beforehand to be sure they knew the rules forward and backwards. Don't talk to anyone you don't know and never walk by yourself. I felt these were good safe rules.

But when all is said and done, they could leave the house, turn the corner and get hit by a car, fall and hit their head, lose their way and the list goes on. There was nothing I could do to stop it and my worrying couldn't stop it either.

So after 5 kids growing up and walking and walking and walking both to and from school and nothing happening, I think I am getting the picture. My worrying does not change the outcome. So this got me to thinking.

It seems that most of my worries never come to fruition anyway. Wow - it made me start changing my philosophy. I now try to weigh how realistic my fears are to determine if I need to worry about it or not - still in the process of not worrying at all, ok? I got to chance to start this process when my 9-yr old got to have a plane ride from his Sunday school teacher for memorizing bible verses. Now his teacher was a pilot so the chance of anything happening was slim. So in figuring out the odds that something might happen, even though it appeared dangerous, I knew that I didn't need to worry all that much.

Finally, I do realize that worrying can add problems. I have worked for myself for the last 20 years. This in and of itself can cause worries in riding the income roller coaster. And as we all have found out recently, there are no guarantees and even less so being a small business owner. So money is a big worry - so much so that I can spend hours fretting over the checkbook, checking and rechecking my Quickbooks and wasting time where I could actually be working so as to bring in money. This will actually make my worries come true and be overwhelming in the process. Not good or needed.

Instead of just stop worrying, I was able to come up with an answer to worrying about the income by having my less-worrying wife take over the bill paying. Now, she doesn't sleep (no just kidding!), I can focus on making the money needed to stay afloat.

Try these 3 ways to not worry and enjoy freedom from worry like you have never known. Keep in my the Bible does say "Do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
For more information, visit the best resources for stress relief and much more tips and advices for free:
Stress Relief