Good morning!

Worrying has definitely reached epidemic proportions.  As technology offers access to more and more information, it also brings more and more things to worry about!  Sometimes we worry about something we have influence over – but more often than not we worry about things that are well beyond our control.

While we may not like the way worry feels, it has become a “safety net” for many.  Let’s say that one of your dreams is to take up hiking.  Well, push a few keys on an internet search and you can quickly find a hundred reasons to never hike.  You can find more than a hundred justifiable reasons to make it excusable to save that goal for a rainy day.  What if you slip and you get this ankle problem newly discovered by a researcher on the other side of the world?  What if you forget a whistle and you are attacked by a bear?  (Maybe there aren’t any bears in your area – but what if, like one website shows, bears are moving and one moves to your neck of the woods?)

When we worry, we come up with very creative (and often crazy) scenarios to feed our worry.  Worry allows us a justifiable way to avoid taking a risk.  If we don’t take a chance, we can’t fall or fail.

My challenge to you is to put worry in its place.  While it may not be easy to give up worrying completely, at least balance it out.  Think of a scale and place all the worry on one side of the scale.  Now, on the other side, place positive reasons that combat worry.  In our hiking example, while I won’t be eaten by a bear if I stay home, I also would never have stood above the clouds like I did one day on Mount St. Helens.  Our worry is almost always something with very low probability – yet if we succumb to worry, we exclude the joy of possibility.

Your Turn:  What is something you have been worrying about?  Put it on a scale and then balance it out with positive thoughts and benefits.  Don’t let worry steer your life, because odds are that if you do, you won’t go anywhere.  Which brings us back to today’s quote.  You control the creation of your future.  Don’t let worry be your primary building tool.

Today’s Affirmation:  I do not let worry block the path of beauty and growth.

And as always, don't forget to start your day with a heartfelt: "Something great is going to happen today... I can't wait to see what it is!"

And when ending your day ask yourself: "What is one more thing I can do to make today matter?

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