Do you worry? I used to worry. I started the week worrying; I moved into mid-week worrying and worried my way to Friday. I waited for orders and agonized over how to generate more income with our business. The worst day was Thursday. That was the day I did our accounting and paperwork. I worried that there would not be enough money to meet our commitments – even when there was enough for that week. I was a full-time worrier with thousands of worrying hours logged and I have only one thing to report from this experiment.

Worrying didn’t help at all.

Of course worrying doesn’t help. It’s just bad energy, attracting more of the thing you worry about. It makes you feel bad and no real good can come of that. We know this but think about it for a moment. Do you worry anyway?  Why?

Two months ago I started a “40-Day Complaining Fast” inspired by Sibyl. I noticed that my complaints were not only being voiced, they were in my head too! I would catch myself having a complaining thought and I would say “Shhh!” – aloud! I tried to stop those thoughts before I could voice them and as time went on I got better at it.

I didn’t just focus on stopping the complaining. I needed to focus on something positive so I chose acceptance. I reasoned the only things I was complaining about were the things in my life I was not accepting. Byron Katie calls this arguing with reality or God. Not a very profitable venture!

It didn’t take 40 days for my life to change. Once I shifted my focus from things to complain about to acceptance, I started to notice things that made me happy – little things and big things. It was like I’d cleared the clutter from a messy room in my house and now it was peaceful there. I started to enjoy those peaceful moments I had been missing until then. I felt different inside and this was changing my outer world.

Something else was happening too. I was no longer worrying!

Think of your focus as a flashlight shining in the dark. You can’t see anything outside the beam of light. You focus on negative things, things to complain about or worry about, and because it’s shining in that direction, that’s all you can see. But when you focus on acceptance and excitement about your projects and plans, you move in that direction and the feelings you generate attract more to be excited about. A “40-Day Worry Fast”? Why not? Worry drains you of power – the power you need to create what you want in this brand new year!

Do you worry? What tools and techniques help you to change that?

photo credit: Jon Rawlinson