It goes something like this:  you worry that you will not have enough time to exercise in the morning; you worry the stock market will continue to slide; you worry your dog’s rash is not getting any better; you worry the foundation of your house is cracking; you worry your teenager is hanging out with the wrong kids…and that is all before you search for sleep at 11:00 p.m.
            Worry, in the words of Dr. Daniel Goleman from his best-selling book, Emotional Intelligence, is “a rehearsal of what might go wrong….”
            The emotional energy of worry is always poised on the cliff of “what might go wrong” and we expend much of our lives exhausted from balancing on this edge.
            Are there block-buster issues to worry about?  Of course!
            Some of us do not have 10-15 years for the national economy to be taken off a respirator. We do get a few, short years to positively imprint our children.  And, the weather report today may include life-changing tornadoes or drought.
            Worry is built on threat and there is no shortage there.  The fallible features of our humanity constantly parade the potential for pain.  And, pain ushers us down the aisle to see the opening act of worry…its worth.
            There is worth to worry. 
            When we become hyper-vigilant about what may go to Hades in a hand basket, we find the energy to make changes.
            Some of the changes will include:  saving enough money for the inevitable rainy day, spending time with our children so when we are not present they make the right choices, investigating a degree program so we have additional options to make a living, buy a car now that will sparingly sip $5.00/gallon gasoline and…the list goes on.
            The only worth of worry is our internal anxiety gives us the kick in the posterior to make changes…now.  That’s it.  Getting “unstuck” is the only inherent value to worry.
            Our problem is we often buzz right by the worth and get knee-deep into the “waste” of worry.  Here is where we just get…stuck.
            And, we do not stay stuck unless there is a reward.  So, what is the reward for wallowing in worry?
            Try:  worry gives us a legitimate excuse for becoming an underperformer.
            When anyone around us suggests we just “let it go,” we cannot envision ourselves going through life without immediately listing all the things that could go wrong.  If we did not have the crutch of impending catastrophe, we would be held accountable for proactive living.
            The problem with chronic worry is it becomes a lifestyle.  Before long we start worrying about worry.  The “what if” cements us in fear and foreboding and reduces choices.  Life then begins to drag between one episode that begins with “I told you so” and concludes with “See, that is why I worry so much.”

            So, what do you do if you are into the waste of worry?
First, ask yourself the question, “What is worrying doing for me?”  Good question.  If your worry is not remedial, making concrete changes in the way you are living, dump it!  Just start saying to yourself, “I will not spend any more time worrying about what could happen because the worry is not adding to the quality of my life.”
Second, when you start to expend valuable emotional energy worrying, ask yourself, “What will I do to make this worry work for me?”  Specifically, what action will you take?  If there is no actionable result from your worry, dump it!
Third, if you are preoccupied worrying about everything, get some help outside your own brain and heart.  I personally find therapeutic balm for worry in my spiritual life.  I need Someone bigger than me to give me perspective.  You may also want to see a clinical helping person like a psychologist to lead you through the process of reality-testing to find out what is rewarding your worry.
Hey, life is scary.  There is a lot to worry about.  The question today is what is the worth and waste of worry?