What's worry done for you lately?

I enjoy re-visiting posts from our Living Savvy archives.  When I re-visit, I tend to connect to the information and stories shared in a new way, discovering something different depending on what is going on for me or people in my life.

When I am coaching someone, very often an issue will come up that will have me searching through the archives for a post best suited to help my client work through the process of Living Savvy, supporting them to ask, do, discover, commit & celebrate.

This post is a favourite of mine, mostly because of the dog. He looks so carefree and happy.  I decided to re-visit this post for me this week.  I have been struggling with the burden of expectations I place on myself.  Recently I made a commitment to breathe into my week and push back less. Watching the dog and listening to the message is such a fun way to be reminded to go more gently.

We discover inspiration in funny places, even TV advertisements! A little while ago the NRMA Insurance ‘Unworry’ campaign caught my eye – particularly this ad with a happy dog savouring the simple delight of a country drive. What grabbed my attention was the commentary: Does it matter if you don’t return the DVDs on time? I stopped renting DVDs as I never returned them on time didn’t need the pressure of another deadline in my life. Does it matter if the kids have toast for dinner occasionally? Music to my ears as I was in the midst of planning the meals for the week and weighing up effort of preparation against the anticipated reception from the children (“Yuk! I don’t like it! I want something else!”)

I decided then and there to unworry about dinner for a week.

Apparently the campaign was inspired by some research that found:

…69 percent of people in NSW said they worried about life’s everyday stresses, with tailgating drivers, smelly people on public transport, busybody colleagues or nosy neighbours topping the list of gripes.

I’ve noticed worry can be a self-fueling fire.

The more I worry the more the ‘little things’ start to grow larger and more dramatic in my mind. Soon I’m catastrophising the every small ‘imperfect’ thing – dirty windows, running late for a lunch date, a misplaced todo list.

And, really, does it help?

Does worrying make you any smarter, more efficient, and mostly importantly, happier?

Let’s have an unworry week of our own

You could start with the simple intention to become more aware of what you worry about every day for the next five days. When you notice you’re worrying, add it to your worry list. On the sixth day choose one that you will unworry about for the next 5 days and share your decision with someone else, you may inspire them to unworry too!

Tell us in the comments – what are you going to unworry in your life?

Image by Sharon Pruitt

Related posts:

1. Inside Coaching: How do I keep all the balls in the air?