Can worry be good?

Did you know that there are two kinds of worry? Worries can be productive, or they can be unproductive.

Most of us engage in far too much worry—of the unproductive type. Our minds fill with negative thoughts, thinking this bad thing might happen and that bad thing is most likely coming our way. Perhaps we worry that we really aren't competent enough to start this business we've dreamed of opening. We worry that no one would want what we offer anyway. And we worry that we're going to be broke and lose our house and everything else.  We don't tend to do anything about these worries; and for the most part, they're baseless anyway. They're just vague, unmanageable worries. This kind of worry sucks away our energy. Big time!

Then there's productive worry. This kind of worry can be good—if it's reality based and can lead to an action plan. Perhaps you see a small pool of water around the base of your water heater. You worry that you'll come home one day, and your rooms could be flooded with water. You've heard of this happening to others. It's a genuine concern; this is what can happen when water heaters die. The worry leads you to immediately go shopping for a new water heater, however. So you can take action and eliminate the worry. See the difference?

It can be good to examine our worry habits—and be sure that our worries are the productive type and that we do take action on them. Those vague worries that can't and don't lead to any action are causing you too much stress and sucking away your energy. Make a plan for eliminating such worries. Let go of them. See them floating away. Commit to worrying only about things that can lead to action plans—and then those worries can be let go. Save your energy for better things!