Don't Worry Just Be Happy

Don’t Worry Just Be Happy

I used to be a true worrywart. I suspect that I was addicted to worrying. I would worry myself literally sick! As a result of my worry, I was totally miserable. Worry controlled my life. It had become my sole purpose in life which was sinful and depressing.

When I had nothing to worry about I would worry about what was going to happen next. My life was consumed with worry. I was anxiety ridden, depressed, and very sick as a result. I kept getting sicker and sicker and there were times in my life when I was on 13 daily medications a day. No matter how much medication the doctors and Psychiatrists prescribed me I could not stop worrying. Medication was only a Band-Aid. It did not fix or heal anything. All it did was suck what little joy was left out of my life which added insult to injury.

One day I decided that this was no way to live. I realized that I was not living life. I discovered that I would go out of my way to avoid people and situations and this only made me even more depressed and miserable. So I had to learn a whole new way to live. This meant that I had to take a leap of faith and step out of my comfort zone.

In order to transform my life there are many things that I had to learn. Learning how to not worry and just be happy was like putting together one of those puzzles with over 100 pieces for me. The whole picture did not come clear to me until it all came together.

The first pieces where positive affirmations to help me break free of the constant worry. Louise Hay’s affirmations helped me to stop obsessing with worry and losing my mind during times of adversity. This really helped but I still had a long way to go to master the art of living a happy life.

I had to learn more about the law of attraction. One day I realized that the more I worried that the more that I had to worry about. I learned through meditation that we attract what we focus on. The teachings of Oprah Winfrey and Deepak Chopra made me realize that if I go throughout my day living with fear and worry that I only attract more to fear and worry about.

I learned the hard way that if I obsess about my bills and worry that they will go unpaid that I only created more financial hardship for myself. “What you feed grows, what you starve dies.” Author unknown

I had to program myself to recite positive affirmations instead of obsessing about lack and scarcity. I learned from the teachings of Louise Hay to think thoughts of abundance and prosperity. “I am a beloved Child of the Universe and the Universe provides for all of my needs and much more.” Louise Hay

It took a great deal of time and practice but slowly but surely I changed the way I thought about money and life’s challenges. Over time I saw where the positive changes were making a real difference in my life. I began to notice when I worried I had more to worry about and when I thought positive and had faith where everything worked out for the best.

I was doing better at this point but I knew I still had work to do in order to create consistency and bring more joy to my life. Then I discovered that I was trying to control things that I had no control over and letting my mind run amuck. So I had to switch my need to control the outside to controlling my thoughts and being the master of my mind. So I had to learn that I am the master of my mind and accept what is beyond my control. I had to learn to let go and let God and let go of the need to change what is not mine to change. I learned to accept what is and not focusing on the way I thought that things should be. This new way of thing brought about a great deal of much needed peace for me.

I had to learn to walk in faith and trust in God. I had to allow God to be my vindicator and just focus on becoming the best I can be. I now pray instead of trying to control what is beyond my control. When in doubt I pray. Instead of only praying at bedtime every night I now pray at least 3 times a day if not much more than that. When I feel the worry creeping back in I take time out of my day to pray. I learned to have faith that everything is already healed and whole. I trust in God that everything will work out for my best and highest good.

Next, I had to learn to trust myself and let go of my need to be perfect. I was getting so obsessed with worry about perfection that I was burning myself out. I would turn things that I enjoyed into hard labor due to my worry about not being perfect. I discovered that I was abusing myself with my negative self-talk. I was so obsessed with the need to do everything perfectly that I was putting myself down like my Father always had done. I began to notice that as a result of my obsession with perfection and my negative self-talk that I was either unproductive or not really enjoying anything that I did. Everything had become a grueling task and I spent much of my time emotionally drained and exhausted. I had to accept that I am human and will not always be perfect but need to focus on learning and growing.

In addition to this, I had to learn not to attach my happiness to events, accomplishments, or material wealth. I used to be guilty of saying and believing things such as, “I will be happy when I earn my college degree or earn more money.” I used to believe that I would be happy when I purchased a new car but then I shifted to the next material thing. One day I discovered that with this way of thinking that I would never be happy because there would always be a new goal or material thing to acquire. I then realized that I could no longer place conditions on my happiness.

I further realized that another way I was sucking the happiness out of life is sweating the small stuff. I would get upset over the littlest of things. A good example of this would be that instead of being thankful for having the money to go to the store and pick up more toilet paper that I would be upset that I had to go out to the store instead of reading a book, watching a TV show, or something that needed to be done around the house. I would get so caught up in the inconvenience instead of being blessed with transportation to go to the store and the money to buy more toilet paper.

I had to learn to shift my focus to what I wanted to bring into my life. I was so worried about things not being perfect that I was attracting imperfection and more to worry about. I was living with the fear of failure and attracting more failure as a result of my constant fear and worry. I had to train myself to focus on happiness and what I wanted to attract.

I am learning to enjoy the journey and go along for the ride instead of being attached to the outcome. I cannot worry about things turning out perfect or what will tomorrow bring but enjoy each moment. I had to learn to enjoy the process of life without obsessing about what the future holds. I am learning to just simply do my best in each moment and forget the rest. I am learning to be mindful and be present in every moment of everyday. I had to learn that when I catch myself wanting to fast forward through life that I must look for the good in the present moment.

Life is what we make it. Our thoughts can make it or break it for us. We must just simply do our best and just forget the rest. We must let go of worry and live life to the fullest. We must look for the good in each and every moment. We must count our blessings and not focus on lack. Happiness is a choice and we must choose it now! We must focus on happiness and live in the here and now. Don’t worry just be happy!