Worry can lead to many types of difficulties

Worry – one of life’s greatest time wasters – can lead to health problems, difficulties in concentration and can interfere with interpersonal relationships.

Worriers come in several styles.

• John is a nit-picker. Worrying about his work, he frets over every miniscule detail. Anything not done to his standards is considered a personal failure. He ties his whole sense of self worth to his job and finds littler personal gratification outside his work. John takes work home every evening, every weekend and awakes in the middle of the night worrying about something he didn’t get done or something he has to do in the future.

John cannot delegate authority and share responsibilities. He believes he must attend to every detail himself it is to be done correctly.

Fortunately for John, his boss hired a management consultant who recommended that John examine his work style and attitude and reverse some of his performance traits. John began to see the job as a team effort. He developed a sense of security from the feeling of others sharing the responsibility. He began to separate the things he could not change from those he could. He delegated work to others.

Weekly communication sessions enabled him to focus on the big picture and leave many of the details to his subordinates. He became more creative, more of an entrepreneurial participant, less burdened with details and minutiae.

• Mary worried excessively about the health of her family. She became obsessed with every health fad that came out and spent a small fortune on vitamins, minerals, exercise equipment and health food. She exhausted her energy and time seeking prevention of imaginary ills.

Mary developed a set of irrational beliefs about certain aspects of health, many of which stemmed from her hypochondria cal mother.

Sitting down with her family physician and telling him about her fears turned her thoughts around to am ore realistic point of view. He recommended she begin relaxation and meditation techniques to learn to control tension and anxiety.

In doing so, she developed a sense of increased control in her life, thus decreasing the amount of time spent thinking about problems which for the most part would never occur. She learned some distraction techniques. If she started worrying, she would pick up a good book or call a friend and start a conversation unrelated to worry. She began a regular exercise program to combat frustration and the normal tension of a busy housewife and mother. Soon Mary began to feel better about herself and her worries began to subside.

Not everyone will solve their worry habits as easily as John and Mary, especially if their problems have a deeper psychological significance. Some worriers will require professional help and should seek it if they find that worry affects their daily living habits.

For others, it is certainly worth the effort to try some of the techniques that can relieve the tension and anxiety of daily life. Make a firm commitment to live each day to the best of your ability. Enjoy today; tomorrow seldom contains the worries of yesterday.

Harold H. LeCrone, Jr., Ph.D. Copyright 1986