reocurring worries and thoughts

[penguin1986]

Hello,

I suffer from constantly worrying or worrying about sets of subjects - I'm trying to use mindfulness to overcome them. I tend to get them on days where I'm not really "excited" or looking forward to something - so essentially I see these sets of worries as quite frequent when I'm trying to be mindful.

As I read on twitter once - Mindfulness Man (who posts on here) saying "Some days I just go from addiction to addiction like a maniac" (or something along those lines) - those are the days where I'm not mindfully aware of my patterns of thoughts or worries - I'll just go from one thing to the next excitedly and very rarely "check in" with myself. I suppose this is how people get on with life - trying to avoid negatives - or constantly wanting to look forward to things without appreciating the "now".

Does anyone have any advice on how to deal with constant worrying or if noticing the pattern of worrying coming back when trying to be mindful - does this give the worries any validity or are they just me catastrophising over things that aren't perfect in life / aren't every going to be perfect?

Any help would be great!

Cheers,
Garry.

[JonW]

Hi Garry.
I used to be a chronic worrier and suffered from terrible anxiety.
Worries and anxieties still arise in my daily life, but they're not nearly as "sticky" as they used to be. Mindfulness practice has taught me that I can choose whether to attach to them or not.
I would say that a solid grounding in mindfulness (doing an 8-week course), followed by committed practice (daily meditation, a lot of reading on the subject) have been key for me.
Some worries are, of course, valid and can be a spur to act on something that needs attending to - paying an overdue bill, consulting a GP about some pressing medical problem etc. But most worries seem to involve us catastrophising over things that aren't every going to be perfect - most suffering comes from us wanting things to be other than they are. In reality, the moment is normally just fine as it is.
Grounding and practice are the keys.
All best,
Jon, Hove

[piedwagtail91]

what jon says!
mick

[JonW]

What Mick says!
Jon