The Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield has a pretty amazing approach to life. He prepares for every situation, not just the path to success but also plans for the challenges, hiccoughs and failures.
This is a powerful philosophy, and he argues that it leads to a more relaxed, enjoyable life where you don't spend time worrying about problems that could crop up, but just enjoying the experience of life, knowing that if something goes wrong you are prepared to handle it.
In my family, we worry a lot. But worrying isn't a productive activity. Worrying, like To Do Lists, are useless wastes of time without a plan of how to deal with them.
So here's what you do instead: worry. Yes, first step is actually to identify what's worrying you! But then you need to categorize your worry into either (a) a worry you can do something about, or (b) a worry there's nothing you can do to fix.
In the case of (a), if there's something you can do to fix the worry, then take some steps towards fixing that. When I was a kid, I came home alone after school and spent a couple of hours by myself before my parents came home from work. During the winter the roads could be snowy or icy, and in the deepest, darkest winter evenings I would sit in the front window of our house worrying when my parents were late coming home. Nowadays there are technological solutions to these problems, such as sending a text message to get an update, but I suspect that if my parents had given me a quick call when they were leaving to say when they thought they'd be home that my worry would have been way lower.
For worries in category (b), Brené Brown would say that you need to focus instead on things you are grateful for. If you are worried that your friend's plane will crash on their way to their vacation, you must acknowledge that this is a worry, that there's nothing you can do to make that worry better, and be grateful that you have such a good friend and grateful that they are getting this time off and a chance to travel. By refocussing your worry in positive directions you will positively affect your state of mind, increase your feelings of gratitude and give yourself the grace to move on with life and leave the worries to the side.
So as you are thinking of changes you wish to make in your life, small or big, you may find worries creeping up on you. Worries on how to adopt the changes can be resolved by taking time to think about it, find your resources and by doing your research. Worries on how your family or friends will react may be able to be moderated by introducing life changes slowly, but if these people are not going to ever accept the change, then you just need to be grateful for the opportunity to change yourself for the better, and grateful for family and friends who care enough about you to want the best for you.
Happy reading!
Rachel
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