THOUGHTS ON WORRY

THOUGHTS ON WORRY

...and related negative things in life.


Merton replies to a friend who advocates "re-wiring of the brain" to circumvent worry.

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Dear Friend,

I do try not to worry, but with me it is a big job attempting to circumvent it. lol. I have waves of it that come, especially if something troubling happens, or if my life does not fit me.

My life does fit me now, but one cannot avoid troubling things coming along every now and then. That is part of life. One can arrange one's life to minimize regular troubling things and minimize the possibility of troubling things coming along (which is what I have done)... although sometimes, I just don't learn and do things which allow or even encourage these to happen.

I think, though, slowly but surely, I am learning how to be, how to arrange my life, etc. Sometimes it is hard for me to accept the big changes that I have embraced to make this possible. Yet, nonetheless, I know I have done the right thing (simplifying me, my life, my schedule, increasing my saying "no" to all sorts of things, etc.)

Your "rewiring of the brain" is an interesting idea. I believe in this to a certain degree, but in general, I am not really sure this is possible. I think it is much more likely to be able to redo one's life and schedule. I suspect that essentially we are wired the way we are, and not much can be done to change this.

I think we must accept ourselves as we are, get to know ourselves, appreciate the good things about the way we are wired, do the most we can with how we are wired, and arrange our lives to fit the way we are wired (even if others and the world say, "you just can't doooooooooooo that!) You can, and should (even though I in general do not believe in "shoulds"), in order to be at peace, happy, healthy, rested, balanced, at peace, etc.

In general, the world is designed to make everyone be the same, live the same, act the same, etc. And, this has tragic results, because people are so different. There is enough for everyone, and in general, most people in the world are miserable because the world is set up to force everyone to be, act, believe, live the same. If you do not then economics or public/govermental/societal judgement try to force you to comply.

This is not good, and should change, in my opinion.

The majority of people are filled with worry, stress, unhappiness, etc., because the world is rigidly invested in making others live and behave a certain way (so that governments can stay in power, haves can keep what they have, various hierarchies can stay in place, etc.)

So there is my little tome on worry and stress, just for you. Wink.

Not sure why I wrote it, but it did help me clarify my thoughts on the subject, which is one of the main reasons I write... to get clear, and move me along in my understanding of how I see things (and thus grow as a person, soul, etc.).

That is one of the neat things about DA. Interesting people, other writers and artists are here, who like to talk and think about meaningful things. I find it sparks me. Most people do not want to talk or think about such subjects (or are too filled with business, worry, stress, etc., to bother or expend the energy to do so).  Or, they are just dulled and have had the thought and curiosity drummed out of them by hectic schedules, weariness, constant sound byte media, modern life, etc.  Or maybe they were just not raised to appreciate and value curiosity and discourse, as I was.  Not sure.  But I do know the world seems, less and less to contain curious people who want to discuss meaningful things (at least meaningful as silly old Merton defines it... wink).  

But here on DA, one finds at least a certain modicum of folks who want to discuss ideas in some detail.

Or else they just humor me.  Lol.

Hubby says, and I quote:  "You discuss things way past the point that virtually anyone might find it interesting!"

Arggg.

Silly old, annoying, talkative Merton.  So strange to be an introverted, art hermit, yet so curious and talkative.

Mertons... who can understand them?

(Least of all Mertons themselves!)

(Well, at least they try.)

(It's a big job, but somebody's got to do it...)

Wink.