Worry Causes Negative Outcomes

Don’t aim for the hole in the road!

Worrying is a waste of time thinking about, and envisioning a negative result in the future.

I say that, “Worrying is like pre-paying a toll for a bridge you many never cross”.

It’s actually worse than that, because worrying and negative thinking changes your physiology and can get you sick. That’s right, your thoughts and negative emotions cause a stress reaction in your body that triggers the release of cortisol, the stress hormone.

Think about it; if you had a nightmare, you can wake up with your heart pounding, in a cold sweat. There was no actual monster, only your imagination and thoughts created that extreme physical reaction.

You don’t need to have an extreme negative thought either, to release cortisol and start the stress reaction in your body. Serial stress, like death from a thousand paper cuts, can have the same effect.

What does the release of cortisol from stress do? It actually affects practically every system in your body. Whereas cortisol release from stress is meant to enable you to escape from a dangerous situation, it is supposed to be a BURST of energy, and then have you go back to “normal”. Unfortunately, the kind of stress that most people report now is continuous or chronic stress.

Loss of ability to think clearly, thinning of your bones and muscles, loss of brain cells, indigestion, gaining weight: Belly Fat, heart-disease, stroke, diabetes…. these are just some of the physical reactions to stress!

The good news: You can manage this stress; not just learning how to recover from it; but by “stop stressing the small stuff”. Because in reality, the effect of the stress can be worse for you than the actual event that caused you to be stressed out in the first place!

Research shows that if you change you thoughts, you can change the event! If you are driving and want to avoid a hole in the road, if you focus on the hole, you will actually end up driving into it. But, if you focus on the clear part of the road, that’s where you’ll go. That’s what life is about. Focus on the positive; on what you are grateful for, and your life will not just seem better, it will become better!