Peg Kerr's Journal

While I'm not generally a compulsive worrier, there was a period in my life where a series of sad and difficult things happened, and I experienced some anxiety. I realized I had been getting into a pattern of worrying... to the point where I was making myself sick. What I did to get out of it was the technique of, whenever I caught myself thinking those thoughts, I would make a conscious effort to replace those thoughts with something happier, something positive, something distracting. It was hard at first, but the more I practiced it, the easier it got, and I did successfully reduce the amount of anxiety and worry. Now, during rough periods, I can tell myself, "I've thought about that enough for today. I'm not going to think about it any more until tomorrow" or "I'm only going to think about this for 10 minutes today." As Bobby McFerrin once sang, "Into each life will fall some trouble. If you worry, you make it double. Don't worry, be happy." Or, if you prefer the Bible, "Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient to the day is the evil thereof." These sayings actually do help me keep on track.