Don't worry, be happy!

 How to go through life if you are a worrier

The world is divided into two sorts of people: the worriers and the non-worriers. The worriers have it bad by any standard. Rare is the situation that does not leave them worrying about how — and if at all — it will be resolved. If they are meant to do a task, they will worry about how well they will perform it. If they are expected to do something for someone else — no matter how trivial — they will lie awake at night wondering if they will mess it up. Every life situation they encounter will come with its own set of worries. They will worry about how their kids will turn out. They will agonise about dying alone. And sometimes they will worry for no good reason at all. 

The non-worriers are the blessed among us. They are so insouciant by nature that nothing leaves them in the least bit frazzled. Not for them the incessant worry about whether they have packed their passport as they drive to the airport. At work they may do their best but you won’t catch them torturing themselves about whether the boss likes them or not. And they certainly don’t worry about silly things like long-term life plans — in fact, they are barely aware that they even need one. 

Just in case you’re wondering, I fall squarely into the first category. In fact, you could even say that I am a world-class worrier. I have yet to encounter any situation that doesn’t send my brain whizzing into overload. It could be a routine medical test that leaves me traumatised till I get the results. It could be the task of packing enough medicines for a trip abroad (I keep feeling that I have missed out on something!) It could be something as innocuous as wondering if the roast potatoes I have made for my dinner party guests will turn out right. Or even just torturing myself with the thought that I might have inadvertently offended someone. 

Needless to say I can’t help but envy the non-worriers among us who go through life whizzing along with minimal or zero mental strain. How remarkable it must be to live like that! To live each day with nary a care, and no fear or what lies beyond. I wish I could rewire my brain to become a non-worrier but I think at this late stage in life, that kind of character change is out of the question. 

So, I have done the next best thing. I have decided to cope by what can only be described as ‘catastrophising’. That means that whenever I begin worrying about a situation (which is nearly all the time) I ask myself: “Okay, what is the worst that could happen?” I then run the worst-case scenarios through my mind and try and convince myself that I could — at a pinch — live with them. 

On most occasions, this works for me. If you are also one of life’s worriers, you might like to give this a try. God knows it’s better than the alternative!