Mark Twain on "Positive Psychology"

From Ann Harrison's Contemporary Retirement:

"I have lived a long life and had many troubles, most of which never happened."

Mark Twain

Ann writes:

Worry is the biggest waste of resources ever - it wastes time and energy, it causes restless nights and interrupted sleep patterns, it wakes you up in the early hours of the morning and can destroy your health. After a night spent worrying, lack of sleep makes you feel bad and muddles your thinking. This means that you accomplish less, make more mistakes and end the day feeling terrible.

Worry never made the worried-about event less likely to happen. In fact, many people believe the opposite to be true - the Law of Attraction states that you attract what you think about and focus on.

She is exactly right. How much time have you spent worrying about things that never happened? How much of that time came at the expense of enjoying good things that are happening in your life? Which approach do you think is more healthy? Which leads to longer-term happiness and satisfaction? Then perhaps it's time to make a change in the way you view things.

Ann suggests making a list of what worries you, make plans if they happen, and then "relax and forget about it."

We'd like to add this suggestion regarding worries and fear. If you are one of over 5 million Americans with some form of social phobia, then make a promise to yourself that you will conquer it over the next 12 months and make a plan to do so. You might be surprised how empowering it is just to take that first step and do you really want to be controlled the rest of your life by this anxiety?