[elisabeth]

I too have a strong tendency to worry. But I've been working on it, especially since I became acutely aware of how it can affect my life.

I.e., with the law of attraction, which says that what we worry about, we may manifest.

Bill Burns (psychic and spiritual advisor) said something to that effect too -- and continued saying that maybe it's not exactly the thing we worried about, but, and here I quote verbatim: "believe me, it will be adequate."

That taught me! Not that it was/is easy to give up the worrywart habit. But it's so worth it. Here are a few things that have helped me:

1. Write! Seriously. The stuff in your head loses its power once it's let outside. Once you write down everything you worry about, its grip on you weakens significantly.

2. Instead of worrying, ask yourself: What DO I want? I use this technique very deliberately, and very often.

3. Sometimes distraction can work wonders. Watch a funny movie, or one that you get a kick out of for whatever reason that works for you. Or, if you enjoy that, read something engrossing and enjoyable.

4. Pray. Seriously. I've been going through some really challenging times, and occasional;y I've found myself practically having a panic attack (pounding heart, hands shaky, cold sweats, etc. and yes, conjuring up worst case scenarios.).

I have a prayer list on my bedside table (a list of people from my church to pray for, sorted by what they want prayer for (health, prosperity, peace of mind, etc.). It helps me get out of my stuff. If it hasn't by the time I'm done with the list, I do it again. Never fails.

I also call 1800-NOW-PRAY, which is the Unity Prayer line and the people on the other side will pray with you in a way that is wonderfully reassuring and uplifting.

Before I discovered both of the above, I used to pray the rosary (in fact, I recently started doing that again occasionally -- it still works).

Actually, when I first started this after many years of having been a very lapsed catholic, I didn't even remember the proper prayers and I had to do some research. But it's like a meditation and by the time you're done you may or may not even remember what it was you were so worried about (for a little while anyway).

And yes, like Vee said, I too sometimes think back to things that used to stress me out in the past and that turned out okay. Especially if they didn't SEEM to work out okay at first -- I remind myself how they ended up being exactly the right thing after all (especially with hindsight ;-) And I remind myself that I can't know what the best outcome is, etc.,

And yes, doing these things is hard, and I can't say I always remember to do them either).

Good luck!