Aging Backwards Tuesday Tips #12: Don't Worry, Be Happy

Some people are natural worriers and I confess I'm one of those. In my younger years, I'd worry about what other people were thinking of me - what I wore, what I said, what I didn't say. I could always put on a confident facade so most people around me never knew the extent of my "affliction." You become an expert at hiding things after a while.

Then one day I was visiting a friend and discovered a remarkable framed poster on her bathroom wall. If you didn't look at it closely, it seemed like just a jumble of sentences all running together, hand-written in an artsy fashion, but buried in the middle was a gem. It read: "90 percent of everything I worry about never happens." Wow, I found that to be so true! I took that sentence and made it my own personal mantra. I still worry sometimes, even about totally insignificant things, but then I repeat my mantra: "90 percent of everything I worry about never happens," and the worries dissipate.

As for the other 10 percent? I'll deal with that when - and if - it happens. Here are some other tips to take your mind off your worries.

Aging Backwards Tips for Deflecting Worry

1) Focus on your senses. Stroke your pet's soft fur, listen to soothing music, breathe in the scent of flowers or freshly-baked cinnamon buns, watch kids play. Focusing on pure sensations can help take your mind off of what's troubling you.

2) Keep a gratitude journal. Writing down the things you're thankful for can have great benefits. Research studies show that people who kept gratitude journals felt better about the upcoming week than those who kept track of hassles or even neutral events.

3) Fake a smile. A study from Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts revealed that students who made frowning expressions by pushing their eyebrows together felt angry, even when watching cartoons, but those who were induced to smile felt happier and found the cartoons funnier.

4) Sniff peppermint. According to Dr. Alan Hirsch, founder and neurological director of the [Smell and Taste Treatment Research Foundation in Chicago,](http://www.scienceofsmell.com/scienceofsmell/index.cfm?action=promo&pc=sathome3) breathing in the scent of peppermint will make you "more awake and alert, and that leads to feeling upbeat."

5) Look through your photo albums. Immersing yourself in a trip down memory lane can take your mind off of current worries, reminding you of all you've experienced and achieved.

"If you ask what is the single most important key to longevity, I would have to say it is avoiding worry, stress and tension. And if you didn't ask me, I'd still have to say it."

- George Burns (1896 - 1996)