The Worriers Guide To Living In The Moment
A few days ago over on my Instagram, I asked if there was anything specific you’d like to see on the blog and this idea came into my inbox. It’s been well documented that I’m a huge worrier and an over-thinker and something that I struggle with a huge amount is living in the moment but it’s something that I’ve come to learn is integral for me maintain a good level of happiness. Wandering either too far into the future or too far in the past isn’t helpful to anyone and here's how I try to avoid that.
how to stay out of the past
This is the one thing that I find really difficult, I can lose days or even weeks to going back into the past and digging things up that don’t matter or have any effect on my life. My mind loves to convince me that if I worry or overthink something then it will magically change but not so surprisingly, it never does. When I feel like my mind is wandering to a place it has no business going I immediately make myself do something whether that be scroll through my phone, tidy up or play with the dogs. If I let myself linger for too long then it’s a very difficult spiral to dig myself out of so making myself busy is one of the easiest and most effective things I’ve done to keep my mind out of the past.
worrying in the now
Although I’d like to sit and say that of course, we can live a worry free life that is never going to happen. And some of us are much more prone to worrying than others and that’s ok, we’re all made differently but it’s when that worry becomes a serious issue does it become something to work on. Being realistic, there is always going to be something that you could be worrying about. But constantly thinking about and going over the same situation a million and one times doesn't help anything or more importantly change anything. One of the most obvious things to remember about worrying is that if you cannot change something at all, in any way there is no point in thinking about it. And it’s hard to get into that mindset there is no doubting it but once you do it’s so refreshing.
ditch the 5-year plan
Over 5 years ago I became incredibly unwell and obviously, that put a serious dampener in my 5-year plan that I had spent so long planning. I’ve always believed that having some sort of plan can work wonders and really inspire you to reach your goals but not making things so specific or set in stone is so important. Life doesn’t always go the way we want it to and when you’ve built this plan up in your head it can feel crushing if it doesn’t come to fruition. Allowing wiggle room for things to change and evolve is something that I’ve found to work wonders on my mental state as then I never feel too downtrodden that I’ve not hit something by a certain point. And there is no time limit on achieving certain things either, there is so much societal pressure to be ticking things off at such a young age but there is no time limit.
control your controllables
Probably the number one rule that I like to live by now is that unless I can have control of a situation then I cannot worry myself sick over it. It’s not easy and it’s something that I definitely still struggle with because I’m a natural born worrier at heart but remembering that I can only have control of my controllables is so important. Not having any say in a situation isn’t easy, I don’t think anybody enjoys living with something they have no say in but there are always going to be things that life throws at us and we have to roll with them.
