On Worrying, Anxiety, & the Dark Days-
Fall is a time of year when anxiety can return to my life and hit me hard. It did last year. I'm not sure if it's going from sun to day after day of cloudy, foggy skies, but I know I'm not the only goes through this during this seasonal transition.
It's an interesting feeling as I love autumn with its orange leaves, wool sweaters, and Halloween moon, but in the back of my mind there is that concern that I will slide into that sad nervous worry-filled place that I tend to do when the sun disappears.
In going through my papers today I found some notes I took when a friend started talking to me about worry. She said the root of the word worry means "to strangle" or "to choke" so when we worry, we cut off the possibility that things could turn out well.
I looked this up and she was right--
1.Middle English werien, worien, to strangle, from Old English wyrgan; see wer-2 in Indo-European roots.
She also told me to take magnesium as it helps with anxiety and sleep. She said as people we need to fine tune our thoughts because "the good is there." Sometimes when we are in that dark place we need to redirect ourselves, that fear will always interfere with our well-being.
Can you guess that this woman was a poet? She was.
She's no longer with us in this world, her life was cut short by breast cancer. But as I found her thoughts to me today I felt a reconnected with her. And I'm going to try to remember that worry chokes out the good. And not try, but remember.
* * *
It's an interesting feeling as I love autumn with its orange leaves, wool sweaters, and Halloween moon, but in the back of my mind there is that concern that I will slide into that sad nervous worry-filled place that I tend to do when the sun disappears.
In going through my papers today I found some notes I took when a friend started talking to me about worry. She said the root of the word worry means "to strangle" or "to choke" so when we worry, we cut off the possibility that things could turn out well.
I looked this up and she was right--
1.Middle English werien, worien, to strangle, from Old English wyrgan; see wer-2 in Indo-European roots.
She also told me to take magnesium as it helps with anxiety and sleep. She said as people we need to fine tune our thoughts because "the good is there." Sometimes when we are in that dark place we need to redirect ourselves, that fear will always interfere with our well-being.
Can you guess that this woman was a poet? She was.
She's no longer with us in this world, her life was cut short by breast cancer. But as I found her thoughts to me today I felt a reconnected with her. And I'm going to try to remember that worry chokes out the good. And not try, but remember.
* * *
To worry - to choke. Makes perfect sense. I would interpret it as choking one into passivity, submission, non-action. It feels like that.
ReplyDeleteAnxiety often attaches itself to a time, place or thing as a memory. Think of it as just a memory and don't fear it.Put your "worry energy" to good use doing something constructive and consuming:)
ReplyDeleteI really understand how you feel!
Laura
Lori - Yes. Very much so!
ReplyDeleteLaura, thank you! I had never thought of anxiety as attaching itself to something else. I really like that idea as thinking of it as a memory. It gives me more control over it.
I appreciate your note.
worry is such and easy, and yet dangerous, emotional trap to fall in to. i can totally relate to that.
ReplyDeletei heard a quote once that said "do not trouble yourself with tomorrow because tomorrow has enough trouble of its own"
for some reason that gives me peace :)