Worry or Wonder?

I find it fascinating that most of us spend way more time worrying than wondering or more importantly, daydreaming.  Why do we spend so much time thinking about what we don’t want, and no time at all looking at the other end of that question….what we do want? 

I have specifically tried to do this and found it very difficult, at times.  I find myself back on the worry train instead of the more pleasant idea of figuring out what I want.  Why is this? 

I remember daydreaming in school when I was small, and of course, that didn’t go over well.  Is it a trained thing?  Have we been trained out of daydreaming?  I call it daydreaming for lack of a better term.  Daydreaming is a positive thing, usually a kind of fantasy about something we want, we dream of, or we wonder about. 

So for example, instead of worrying about your next credit card bill….what would happen if you just fantasized about it being paid, or there being no balance, or you won the lottery?  Will this help you pay the bill? Probably not.  But would worrying about the bill help you pay it either? No.  So why go to daydreaming instead of worrying?  Because of how it makes me feel.  Worry makes my stomache churn and my head hurt and I feel powerless and depressed and I end up overeating, oversleeping or rendering myself completely useless in some way. 

Whereas, the idea of winning the lottery is fun.  It makes me smile, I feel happy to think about all the ways I would spend my fortune and all the family and friends that I would spend it on, and it allows me some idea of control and power.  How can this not be a good thing? 

You may counter that daydreaming and worrying are both a waste of time.  You may be right.  But can you honestly tell me that you can deliberately tell yourself not to worry about something and it magically disappears?  If so, you are good!  I personally think it turns into the white elephant in the middle of the room and somehow or other it is always there.  But when you play with it somehow, it is smaller, easier and does eventually go away or is easier to walk around. 

Try it.  The next time you are lying in bed worrying about something instead of sleeping….just try it.  Then let me know!