I can sing to myself “Don’t worry, be happy”. In spite of this wise message I do worry. And the world, media and society supply me with reasons to worry. So I worry about wars and terrorist’s attacks; about losing life, losing family, losing home and losing health. I am informed diligently about all the possible ways I can get sick, be destroyed and punished. I am being threatened by poverty and lack of work and money in sneaking economic crises. Even going to shop for grocery can be challenging. All the things I have to consider purchasing my breakfast: is the food I choose correct or maybe it is full of poison put there by greedy and vicious producers. I should be on guard there too. Not mentioning my moral obligation to be a good person. Am I a good person? Does eating meat, driving car or buying a t-shirt make me a bad person? So I worry there too.
Experts, politicians, scientist and my family work so hard to make my life safer, better, healthier and they constantly worry on my behalf, they have to protect me from myself.
In this race for safety I lose myself, I lose joy and happiness of life, I lose space to move and explore. Do I really need all this control, protection and supervising?
Of course I want to be safe, but I also want to enjoy life, to be creative and happy. I want to have the right dynamic in my life, be aware of what is really happening in the here and now without always foreseeing the worst scenario for the future. I don’t want to be a victim of constant worries.
So I take a break from the elaborated stories of possible disasters and threats, I say “Thank you” to the worrisome mind and I seat myself to meditate. I concentrate on the sensations and feelings in my body. I allow it to be scared, because that’s what it feels; the tightness in the body, the shallow breath, the closed chest. I don’t change anything I am with my scared body, I listen to it. I allow this imprisoned energy in me to move. I trust its wisdom and I hope that it can trust me. In this mutual acceptance and awareness we both relax, open and calm down. I am no longer scarred. There is nothing to worry about.