In psychology, it has been found that it is not possible to think of more than one thing at any given time. You may think you are thinking of more than one thing at the same time but you are actually rapidly thinking of things one after the other [1] [2] Sceptical arent you? "But I have many thoughts going on simultaneously at any given time", I hear you say. Okay, let's test this theory right here and now.
Sit back in your chair and close your eyes. Picture clearly an image of Big Ben. Now, think about what you will be having for dinner tomorrow evening. You realised didn't you, that you could think of them in turn, but not at the same time.
Good experiment right, but why am I telling you all this? What relevance does this have with eliminating worry problems? Well, let me tell you.
Taking action and performing a task that is constructive puts our mind to work, soothes the nerves and results in mental relaxation. Even during the direst of times, taking constructive action not only allows for keeping calm and relaxed, but we keep focused and productive too.
"I'm too busy, I have no time for worry." - Winston Churchill, when asked about his enormous responsibilities during the height of the WWII.
"Live in the serene peace of laboratories and libraries." - Louis Pasteur
"As a cure for worrying, work is far better than whiskey. I always found that, if I began to worry, the best thing I could do was focus upon doing something useful and then work very hard at it. Soon, I would forget what was troubling me." - Thomas A. Edison
So what is the takeaway message here? Well, to put it clearly, be so absorbed in doing something constructive that you cannot have any thoughts or feelings of worry and anxiety. The work must be mentally and physically stimulating. Like our early example about thinking of Big Ben and tomorrow evenings dinner, one thought drives out the other, and similarly, one emotion drives out the other. You cannot be excited and in high spirits about doing something, while feeling beaten and defeated by worry at the same time. You must decide which one takes priority at any given moment. One moves you forward while the other pulls you back; so choose wisely.
Occupational Therapy [3] [4] has a variety of applications, one of which is due to mental health recovery and wellness. In short, work may be prescribed as medicine [5]. Such examples include walking, hiking, fishing, playing a sport, gardening, yoga, meditation, cooking and performing a charitable service. In a later post, we will see how acts of charity even have the power to cure depression.
Ashrams and zen monasteries guide their students in performing daily activities such as yoga or rearranging stones in a zen garden. These activities are designed to engage the individual's mind to the task at hand, therefore the person not living in their mind but in the present moment. If an individual keeps up the practice of yoga, exercise and self-development, this should break the individual's habit of worry.
The video below shows Tom Daley, an Olympic athlete who knits throughout his competition days. The focus required not only soothes his nerves, but prevents his thoughts from leaning towards worries, fears and anxiety, and we have all been through times where our own thoughts have prevented us from performing to the best of our abilities.
Most of us are generally focused on our day's tasks such as our jobs, looking after the kids or doing house chores. But it is after the day's work is done, the evenings at home on the couch and on weekend mornings reading the newspaper where the gremlins of worry and anxiety decide to pay us a visit. When these gremlins strike they magnify the importance of trivial blunders we may have made in the past, and who hasn't.
"I must lose myself in action, lest I wither in despair." - Alfred Lord Tennyson
To summarise, get up, get active, get busy, and keep busy. I will leave you with these wise words from George Bernard Shaw.
"The secret of being miserable is to have leisure to bother about whether you are happy or not. The cure for it is occupation, because occupation means pre-occupation; and the pre-occupied person is neither happy nor unhappy, but simply alive and active. That is why it is necessary to happiness that one should be tired.” - George Bernard Shaw, Misalliance
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