Sunday Inspiration: Worrying is worthless
“If you are ruminating about the past, or worrying about the future,
you will completely miss the experience…
The past is finished.
Learn from it and let it go.
The future is not even here yet.
Plan for it, but do not waste your time worrying about it.
Worrying is worthless.
When you stop ruminating about what has already happened,
when you stop worrying about what might never happen,
then you will be in the present moment.
Then you will begin to experience joy in life.”
-Thich Nhat Hanh
If only I could only live this way. So much wasted time worrying about things in the past that I can’t change or things in the future that will never happen. But being aware of the absurdity of this human dilemma allows me to let go a little more each time I remember. And that feels so good.
Where are you on this road?
I’ve found that the older I get, the less I stress about regrets and hurts from my past as well as the uselessness of worrying about the future. I cannot change anything so why waste energy fretting over things out of my control? I have put my faith in the Lord and trust that He is taking good care of me. This way I can savor each minute in the present.
I’m going to make an effort to live in the present and make now the best it can be for me and my family.
I have always been somewhat of a ‘worrier’, and I think the tendency might be inherited as my father had that type of personality as well. I do try to keep it in check. In that regard of late, I’m limiting my exposure to excess news, staying away from Facebook except my groups (like paper crafting and family). Your post today is a great reminder and check for people like myself and I will keep it handy to read ad ‘refocus’. Thank You Emilie!
Oh yes… In my family we call it over thinking. And all 3 of us kids have a really hard time with it. My brother gave me, what has become my new motto, “Let that Shit go.”
I even found a small picture of The Budda with that saying that hangs next to my bed. It is the 1st thing I see in the morning and the last thing at night. It rather well covers both past and future worry. Let it go. I say this alot.