5 Ways To Stop Worrying So Much

We already know that worrying is not good. But we continue to worry...a lot. In fact, we as humans worry so much, it's killing us. Even though we have more technology and resources for a higher quality of life, we also have more psycho-social stress than ever and many of us worry about things that we have little to no control over. Worrying causes added stress which can deteriorate your health and shorten your life.

You know the word "disease"? Well it comes from two words put together, "dis- ease". Think about it. When you have enough "dis-ease" in your life inevitably you'll get "disease"!

And you know what else stress does to you? It makes you fat. Oy!

So read this article and hopefully it will help you find ways to mentally process your stress and worry less.

I found this article on the web and it had no author. I think someone had cut and pasted it from it's original source. So I apologize to the author for not being able to give proper credit.



"Do not anticipate trouble or worry about what may never happen. Keep in the sunlight." Benjamin Franklin

"The greatest mistake you can make in life is to be continually fearing you will make one." Elbert Hubbard

"If you ask what is the single most important key to longevity, I would have to say it is avoiding worry, stress and tension. And if you didn't ask me, I'd still have to say it." George F. Burns

Worries. They can circle around and around in your head. Becoming louder and louder as they sap your strength and make you feel you weaker. It's no fun.

So what can you do about it? Here are five timeless thoughts to help you overcome or at least lessen the worries in your life. I hope you find something helpful.

1. 80-90 percent of what you fear will happen never really come into reality.

"When I look back on all these worries, I remember the story of the old man who said on his deathbed that he had had a lot of trouble in his life, most of which had never happened." Winston Churchill

"If you want to test your memory, try to recall what you were worrying about one year ago today." E. Joseph Cossman

This is a big one but one that is easy to forget about. Most things you fear will happen never happen. They are just monsters in your own mind. And if they happen then they will most often not be as painful or bad as you expected. Worrying is most often just a waste of time.

This is of course easy to say. But if you remind yourself of how little of what you feared throughout your life that has actually happened you can start to release more and more of that worry from
your thoughts.

2. Don't make mountains out of molehills.

"Worry often gives a small thing a big shadow." Swedish Proverb

"Worry is a thin stream of fear trickling through the mind. If encouraged, it cuts a channel into which all other thoughts are drained." Arthur Somers Roche

"If you treat every situation as a life and death matter, you'll die a lot of times." Dean Smith

It's very easy to fall into the habit of making mountains out of molehills. You think and think about a small problem until it becomes something that you believe may ruin your life.

So why do we do it? Why don't strive to make things easy and simple?

Well, one reason I believe is protection from pain. By making the problem huge can you can invent a helpful excuse to convince yourself to not take action.

Another reason is that the ego wants more. It wants to feel better or worse than someone else. By making things more complicated than they need to be you can make them feel very important. And since you are involved in these important things, since you have these BIG problems, well, then you have to be important too, right? Plus, by doing so you can get a lot of attention and comfort from other people.

So how do you get out of the habit of making mountains of molehills? Three tips:

* Zoom out. Ask questions that widen your current perspective. Questions like: "Does someone have it worse on the planet?" The answer may not result in positive thoughts, but it can sure snap you of a somewhat childish "poor, poor me--" attitude pretty quickly. This question changes the perspective from a narrow, self-centred one into a much wider one and helps me to lighten up about my situation and to be grateful about my life.

* Bring awareness to you own thought patterns. Ask yourself questions like: "Honestly, am I overcomplicating this?" and "What is the simplest and most straightforward solution to my problem
that I may be avoiding to protect myself from pain?"

* Realize that much of this is in your head. Your relationships to what you want to achieve are - just like your relationships to people - to a large extent just in your head. Think that something
is easy and simple instead of "heavy" and complicated and your perception of that external thing you want to achieve tends to change too. Experiment and find healthy and effective relationships
to what you want to achieve instead of just seeing something like many people may do.

3. Let go of that familiarity and certainty.

"Worry is like a rocking chair-it gives you something to do but it doesn't get you anywhere." Unknown

"People become attached to their burdens sometimes more than the burdens are attached to them." George Bernard Shaw

Whatever you have been doing perhaps for decades feels familiar and comfortable. Even if it may be something destructive as worrying. Taking a leap of faith and going into the unknown, making a change that may turn out to be positive, can feel scarier and more uncomfortable than what you are used to. Even if what you are used to is worse in the long run.

But at some point you have to make up your mind to start letting go of that old familiar part of yourself. You have to fill up the space all that worrying used take up with new thinking. It may feel
uncomfortable. It is not so intimately familiar as your past thoughts.

It can be scary and exciting at the same time because now you are not just someone who sees him/herself as worrier and that uses some techniques to lessen that. You are instead making a deep change to who you are, to how you view yourself. You are letting go of something that has been a big part of you and are leaving it at the side of the road.

One great tip that I have learned for making it easier to let go is to first accept it. Then to let it go. When you accept something instead of resisting it you stop feeding more energy into your problem and making it even bigger. A bit counterintuitive.

This is useful when it comes to letting go. If you first acceptwhat you want to let go you aren't so emotionally attached to it and still feeding it with your focus and energy. And so it becomes less powerful and easier to just drop. As long as you resist it then it will be hard to let it go.

Another helpful hint for letting go is found in tip #1 in this article. All that worrying in your past may not have been very accurate at all. So perhaps it's a smart choice to let go of that habit?

4. Focus on a solution.

"There is a great difference between worry and concern. A worried person sees a problem, and a concerned person solves a problem." Harold Stephen

"The reason why worry kills more people than work is that more people worry than work." Robert Frost

"You can't wring your hands and roll up your sleeves at the same time." Pat Schroeder

To move out of worry it's very helpful to just start moving and taking action to solve what you are concerned about. Two tips that have helped me to take action more consistently are:

Using a morning routine.

This is perhaps the most powerful tip I have found so far in this area. You simply set up a routine in the morning that you do as soon as you wake up. This works so well because what you do early
in the day often sets the context for your day. As humans we have a strong tendency to want to be consistent with what we have done before. That's one big reason why a bad start often leads to a bad day and a good start often leads to a good day. Read all about my and other people's morning routines in this article.

Focusing on and taking responsibility for the process, not the potential results.

I use this when I workout. I don't take responsibility for the results in my mind. I take responsibility for showing up and doing my workout. The results have come anyway from that consistent action. And this makes it easier for me to take this action when I know that is all I need to focus on. Instead of using half of the energy and focus I have available on hoping that I "reach my goal real, real soon".

Focus on the process and you will be a lot more relaxed and prone to continue than if you stare yourself blind on the potential results that never come as quickly as you want to and puts you on an emotional roller coaster from day to day.

5. Tomorrow will come anyway. Live and fully enjoy here and now.

"Worry never robs tomorrow of its sorrow, it only saps today of its joy." Leo F. Buscaglia

It may sometimes seem that by worrying we can less the sorrow of tomorrow. But it never works. It only sucks the life out of today and this moment.

To be able to live better today and to be able to take that action to prevent the possible sorrow it's important to learn to live in the present moment. Because it's there that you can do things in the best possible way with your focus fully on what you are doing.

Three of my favorite techniques for drawing myself back to the now are these (the first one is the one I use most often right now):

* Focus on what's right in front of you. Or around you. Or on you. Use your senses. Just look at what's right in front of you right now. Listen to the sounds around you. Feel the fabric of your
clothes and focus on how they feel. Be still right there and just take in the world around you.

* Pick up the vibe from present people. If you know someone that is more present than most people then you can pick his/her vibe of presence (just like you can pick up positivity or enthusiasm from people). If you don't know someone like that then I have often recommended listening/watching to Eckhart Tolle in the past. I still do. I especially like his audiobook "Stillness Speaks". Another guy that I find helpful for picking up presence from is Dr. Wayne Dyer.

* Paraliminals. I reviewed these guided meditation CDs during the spring and they have become one of my favorite way for reconnecting with the present. I just plop down on my bed for 25 minutes or so to relax and listen. Afterwards I feel relaxed and energized and my self-talk tends to shut down or decrease significantly for maybe half a day. This makes it a lot easier to be in the present moment and just focus on what is going on right now.

Why Too Much Cardio Makes You Fat!

Steve Maxwell, age 56

This is a great article from my colleague Steve Maxwell, who at 56 years old is in better shape (and I mean true genuine, functional fitness, not just appearance / bodybuilding nonsense) than most of us could ever dream to be.

In this article Steve explains in detail why performing too much aerobic activity is counter productive and can actually be bad for you. In fact, he gives us ten very compelling reasons why he doesn't do any aerobics himself.

There's a group of individuals I have come to refer to as "over aerobicisers". In my ten years of experience as a personal trainer and coach I've run into many people who are addicted to their aerobic activities. And the more they do the better. There's often a pattern for many where they evolve from casual joggers into marathoners and triathletes. I keep seeing this more and more with adults over age forty as well. In my observation there's also been a pattern that they share. It's not completely consistent, but generally these are some of the common traits.

- Are happy with their scale weight.

- Look good in clothes, but they have fat deposits in places they can't get rid of.

- Crave starchy carbs and justify eating them because they believe they can burn off the extra calories.

- The women prefer not to wear bathing suits, especially the two-piece styles.

- Are frustrated as to why more aerobic activity is not working for them.

- Love the way they "feel" from their time spent running, biking, or swimming.

- Feel "off" when they can't run, bike, or swim.

- Are very often resistant to the idea of changing their fitness program to one focused on resistance training without their aerobic activities.

In my fitness programs we've always focused on "muscle first". But if strenuous exercise is too challenging for you, I recommend walking as a great way to burn fat, especially if you have the time.

I enjoy hiking as not only a great way to burn fat, but a wonderful way to experience nature, slow things down a bit from the hectic pace of the work-week, and also a way to enjoy the company of friends. That's why we hike every Sunday as part of our program. If you live in the area, please feel free to join us! http://www.meetup.com/Body-Basics-Burn-the-Fat-Hiking-Group/

So, if you perform a lot of aerobic activity, and in spite of it you're still fat, please read what Steve Maxwell has to say in the article below. And you just might want to pass this on to some of your friends too!

Press on!
Larry

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
10 Reasons Why I Don't Do Aerobics
By Steve Maxwell

I spend my days at a corporate gym. It's a sweet gig and a temporary livelihood.

One morning, while observing a female member endlessly running the treadmill-to-nowhere-fast, I realized I see the same people returning day after day, iPods silently blaring or, worse, mindlessly captivated by one of the ten wall-mounted television screens, while grinding away on those steppers and treadmills.

The drudgery of their *Sisyphean tasks compels their attempts to lose self-awareness by inundating themselves with external stimuli. Often, their bodies reflect this lack of self-awareness in skewed gaits and other imbalances. (Editor's Note: *Sisyphean task - This phrase describes any seemingly interminable or impossible job.)

These same people come in religiously to get the feel-good fix, believing somehow their mindless, movement addiction is in some way benefiting them. Interestingly, they stay fat, show no progress, and sometimes even get fatter, especially after holidays. Most of these people are loathe to touch a weight, much less engage in any kind of productive strength-training. You see this same phenomenon in gyms all over the country.

Some will say, "Well, some exercise is better than none." But I say, if you're going to spend the time, why not produce something worthwhile?

But first, what is aerobic exercise?

Any steady state locomotion elevating the heart rate into the zone for twenty minutes or more. The zone is determined by formulas based on age and resting heart rate. Now, ten reasons why it not only doesn't work but is a poor use of exercise time:

1. Oxidative Stress
Which causes a breakdown of tissues. It also predisposes one to cancer
and heart attack.

2. Elevated cortisol production
Which causes a breakdown of muscle tissue and increases fat storage or depot fat. People do aerobics to alleviate stress yet end up creating more stress.

3. Lowered testosterone and HGH levels
For men, aerobics are a form of chemical castration. Low T-levels are associated with lowered libido, depression, anxiety, increased body fat and decreased muscle tissue. This contributes to muscle-wasting and lowers the basal metabolic rate.

4. Increased appetite and a tendency toward binge eating patterns
Aerobic exercise makes people hungry!

5. Excessive Muscular Fatigue
Making it difficult to do other more productive forms of activity. Aerobics creates muscular weakness.

6. Conversion of fast-twitch muscle fibers to slow-twitch
The loss of fast-twitch muscle fibers contributes to aging and the loss of explosive power and speed. People become slower and slower.

7. Burns a relatively small amount of calories vs. the time spent
One large meal completely offsets the pitiful amount of calories burned in an hour aerobics session.

8. Overuse injuries to the feet, ankles, and knees from excessive,
continual force transmitted throughout the body
This is exacerbated by over-engineered running shoes which cushion the feet in such a way to create a neural amnesia.

9. Shortening i.e., deformation, of the muscle tissue from repetitive
mid-range (partial range) movements
This creates inflexibility, immobility, and muscle imbalances. Besides being tight, the bodies postural alignment becomes compromised. Aerobics create tight, inflexible bodies that are in chronic pain.

10. Adrenal burnout
A consequence of the "feel good" neurotransmitters which also stimulate the release of adrenaline. Adrenaline is the fight or flight hormone. Excessive adrenaline creates an addictive response and people going routinely for the so called "high" of running end up with adrenal burnout, e.g., chronic fatigue and depression.

Dr. Kenneth Cooper, the father of aerobic exercise (and the person who coined the term) completely recanted his assertions regarding aerobic exercise. After observing a disproportionate number of his
aerobic-enthusiast friends die of cancer and heart disease, he reversed his ideas on the benefits of excessive aerobic exercise. He now claims anything in excess of 20 minutes has greatly diminishing returns. In fact, he's now an advocate of scientific weight training.

In strength and health,
Steve Maxwell

To contact Steve Maxwell go to - http://www.maxwellsc.com/