I learned something about worry from an old book of letters of direction by the Abbe de Tourville, a French priest.
His big thing was about living in truth, as is mine. Maybe that’s what attracted me to him, as well as his honesty, flexility, and humility. Also he burnt out, and hence confined much of his life to quietly writing these letters–and I do know a thing or two about burnout.
The thing about worry, he writes, is that you are not living in truth. Why? Because at the moment you are worried about the future, you are not at the point when you are gathering your resources to do something about it. Since you are not connected with the resources that will help you deal with it, you are simply, in a disconnected way, imagining negative things that could happen.
When the time comes to do something, to plan, or to create Plan B, or even to visualise what you want, you are in touch with your resources. And at that moment, you are living in truth, and can seriously look forward and work out what is likely, both positive and negative and what to do about it.
This is why I suggest that if you are worried about something, you take a moment actually to visualise yourself in the future having got the positive result that you want and then get a sense of how you got to this future. You can also imagine the negative future, the one you were worried about, and see how you got there. Then choose which you want. Once you do this, you are in touch with your deepest truth, and with your resources.
If you feel it is really not up to you at all, that’s okay. You can still choose which future you want, and clearly say to yourself that this is the one you choose. This protects you from worry, and may even make that future more likely.
And if you are worried about someone, just picture them and send them love, healing, or whatever they need. Again, this positive picture, rather than worry, will be good for you, and maybe for them too.
Try it. You have nothing to lose but your worries.