Worrying

If  'Worrying' were an Olympic sport then I would be up there sprawled across all three podiums (is that the correct plural? podiums, podia? I knew I shouldn't have sent my research team home early) adorned with the gold, silver and bronze medals, worrying that the combined weight of these metals was going to cause terrible neck problems in later life. Oh, and what if the silver made my eczema flare up?
I am a worrier, though I like to think that I have trained myself out of it a bit over the years. I have had to in order to survive. You see, worrying is an exhausting pastime. It means that your brain is constantly going over things, trying to resolve issues which may not even have happened yet, if indeed they are ever going to! And if I don't really have anything to worry about then that I will find something. Worrying is an addiction, it's like continuing to chew on a piece of gum long after it has lost its flavour.
So, I have invented for myself a simple yet effective test called 'The Death Bed Test'. It's not patented, you too can use it. When I find myself starting to get anxious about something I ask myself 'Am I going to be thinking about this on my death bed?' You can always adapt this to make it more short-term e.g. next year, next month, in a week. If the answer is 'No' then let it go. I have not yet answered 'Yes' to the question and believe me, I am a hard-core worrier. I often use this method on pupils who are getting over-anxious about an exam. It usually raises a brief smile and puts things in perspective. I hope it does the same for you.