One Powerful Statement

Happy Thursday everyone!  As usual, I'm going to be joining in the Thinking Out Loud linkup today.  Instead of having a structured post like I usually do, I wanted to share my thoughts about a podcast that I recently listened to- a specific episode of the Lively Show with Brooke Castillo.

The entire episode was really powerful to me and I took down a ton of notes while I listened.  Then, about halfway through the episode, Jess shared a quote by Joyce Meyer that made me drop everything and rewind to hear the words again.

Worry is a down payment on a problem you may never have.

I've always been a pretty anxious person.  It seemed like there was always something for me to obsess over, and worry about the worst possible outcome-  

What if I give my speech in class and completely forget every word and everyone laughs at me?
What if I get lost on my way to my new classes and I end up being late and get in trouble?
What if...?

This would translate into staying up all night, tossing and turning while I imagined all of these insane and unrealistic situations.  It didn't matter what was going on in my life, there was always something to worry about and have anxiety over.

Malmo, Sweden

My anxiety came to a head when I left the country for the first time.  As you can imagine, that was the most terrifying experience of my life. So many more "what ifs" crossed my mind in the weeks leading up to the trip- my passport could evaporate before I made it to customs or I could lose my boarding pass and be stuck in the airport!

Murren, Switzerland

All of these situations kept popping around in my head as we flew from Pittsburgh to Madrid.  I miraculously made it to another country in one piece, not losing anything or getting kicked off the flight.  Once we landed and made our way around the city, I noticed how different everyone acted.  People were outside in the middle of the day, not rushing around or looking stressed, but were enjoying a glass of tinto de verano or a plate of tapas looking happy and relaxed, and generally peaceful.  I came to realize that being stressed and worrying about all of those "what if's" was stopping me from being happy and enjoying the present moment.

Barcelona, Spain

On that trip, I stopped worrying about what could happen and started to enjoy what was happening.  In Barcelona, one of my travel buddies got pick pocketed.  In my mind- that was one of the worst case scenarios of what could happen.  And you know what?  We made it through and still had an amazing trip.  That showed me that you can't prepare for every bad thing to happen and it's a waste of time and energy to worry.  

Rome, Italy

note-

I've been planning this post for a few weeks now, and had it written earlier this week.  After the terrible tragedy in Brussels a few days ago, I feel like this message is even more important for me.  Any time that I go on an overseas trip, my family and friends are always nervous and ask if I'm worried about something happening on the flight or on my trip.  The answer is always no.  Bad things happen all the time, but I've learned now that no one can predict tragedy, and no one can predict something going wrong.  I'm happy now to live in the moment, hope for the best, and not worry about the worst.  My thoughts are with all of the victims and their families- and hope that these awful events inspire you to take advantage of your life and live every day to the fullest.

I would love to hear your thoughts!  
Are you a worrier?  How have you overcome that?