The Year I Stopped Worrying
You really can change yourself if you want to.
The year was 2003. We were living in Raleigh and I was working for a high stress design firm that specialized in marketing for real estate. The world of selling homes is a world that never sleeps. That translates to unrealistic deadlines, aggressive clients, picky perfectionists. It was both rewarding and exhausting.
But it brought out the worrier in me and it amplified things. I had always been a worrier. My Mother was and still is a hardcore worrier. I don’t want to say anything negative about my Mom. So I’ll just say she is talented at this particular trait and leave it at that. But her tendencies definitely rubbed off on me and shaped me as an adult.
One day I heard a song on the radio called “The Remedy (I Won’t Worry)” by Jason Mraz. You’ve probably heard it, the song was very successful. It had a carefree message which helped me see I just can’t worry my life away. Nothing ever comes from worrying and most of the time, things are not nearly as bad as you think. You always have to ask yourself this:
“1 year from now, will this even matter?”
The power of one song set into motion a change in my behavior. I started worrying less and being more relaxed with life. It wasn’t overnight. I still worried and allowed things to get me worked up. But over time, I have become more relaxed. It’s all about baby steps, you know. You have to undo years of damage that you’ve inflicted on yourself by worrying.
6 years later, I really see a change in myself. Most people get set in their ways as they get older and it only gets worse. I seem to be going in reverse and becoming more flexible as I age. I’m happy about that.
Jason Mraz has once again captured my attention with his latest album, We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things. It’s an uplifting experience to listen to… something fresh and original, thought provoking too.
Here’s another song by Jason that really inspires me. It’s called “Make It Mine”:
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Mraz is great!
I was a worrier, too, but I’ve really improved. I always worried about what “might” happen. So I began calling my own bluff, if you will, following those anxieties through and asking, “What’s the worst that could happen?” Took a while to get comfortable, but once I could see things through to whatever unlikely ends might occur–and how I would handle those–there really wasn’t anything to worry about!
Sure, i still worry some but–I’m certainly not as bad as my partner!