As I complete this post this morning, the world is watching escalating devastation in Gaza. Today I am writing on "worry" in the context of the season, as war casualties mount. Take this moment first to pray for (or affirm) Peace and Healing, and/or Intelligent, Compassionate Resolution, so that Peace can last. That prayer is already within you, offer it to our world.
October ends with Tuesday's Halloween connecting us to ancient rituals of the past, yet every year brings adaptation to new archetypes. November opens with religious holidays: All Saints Day, All Souls Day and Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead, when those who have died reunite with the living for a brief celebratory visit). These together bring an atmospheric mix of the supernatural, both welcomed and dreaded, fantasy, fears, prayers, play, and messages of reward and threat--life and death. It seems to me a good time to look at worry.
We are living in changing times. Change brings disruptions, loss of familiar places, routines, connections. News and social media have discovered the competitive advertising power of catastrophizing singular events, reducing information to small bites that cause added alarm and motivate us to worry more and seek more information and solutions. Change brings new forms that push us to learn, build new relationships and measure risks in exploring an array of options. A long life inevitably means adapting to change. Worry is a mental process, focused on thought, a human response to uncertainty and loss of control. When our churning thoughts predict catastrophe, worry disrupts sleep and appetite and magnifies pain. But worry's main disservice is that it stunts our capacity to problem-solve, to reason and plan.
This week, consider a focus on problem-solving, followed by a bed-time spiritual release. Problem solving is usually supported by defining YOUR problem in writing, separating it from entanglement with all other worries floating around. The creative part is listing 10 possibilities the problem could be solved--here is room for the unexpected and even improbable. It's simply a way of dispelling the locked-in assumptions of circular thinking. If an obvious solution appears, explore it further, and take action. If not, set it aside, reminding yourself you have already begun the solution process. Return to it when you have time to sit and think. If there is a list of problems, work your way down. When worry strikes, go back to problem solving. But each night, before sleep, give it all up. Surrender to the Highest. "I release all concern and all responsibilities; Guidance comes through rest, through letting go, through sleep." You cannot solve the world's problems as a single individual, no one person (of whatever rank) can. Ultimately though, your personal problems are not separate from the world's problems; your worry is the world's worry. Lighten it's load. (Susan Nettleton).
"If you want to test your memory, try to recall what you were worrying about one year ago today. - E. Joseph Cossman
For poetry: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/45041/theme-in-yellow