As I was listening to Br. Andrew Hickey delivering the Living Word reflection on radio, one morning last week, I heard him say that a recent study found that when people go on vacation adults make an average of two major life decisions during that time. He spoke about our need to intentionally retreat from the busyness of everyday life in order to be able to hear “that small voice within that encourages us to take that next bold step”
Its vacation time of year! Airport traffic is beginning to increase already with the seasonal exodus to sunnier climes where we hope to find peace and happiness away from the hassle and worry of daily living.
We worry a lot. Worry is the process we engage in to try to remove uncertainty from our future. In order to worry, we have to step out of the present moment and dwell in the future, based on past experiences. Dan Zadra says “worry is a misuse of imagination.” It is the product of our inability to deal with uncertainty. Every time we use the present to worry about the future, we choose to sacrifice the joy that today holds so that we can regret the joy we might not have tomorrow. We engage in a rejection of what is and live in a world of what might be. Eckhart Tolle tells us “worry pretends to be necessary but serves no useful purpose.”
Worry is like a rocking chair:
it gives you something to do, but never gets you anywhere
Emma Bombeck
In reality all that busy mental activity can do little or nothing to change the future. Realistically, it is a stressful, tiring and unproductive activity. In essence, worry is a habit of mind that does not serve us well.
We think that by going on vacation for a week or two we can find the peace that we search for. And often for that brief time we do find a fleeting reprieve from the worry cycle. Life takes on a smooth path instead of the rocky struggle. It is a great feeling and we want to hold on to it.
So why don’t we hang on to the peace and calm of vacation time? Because we usually just temporarily park up the worries with no intention of permanently letting them go. Then we are surprised and disappointed to find them waiting for us on our return to home or work. Worry is as mobile as we are. It can travel by bus, train, boat or plane. If we can choose to not bring them with us on vacation, we can choose to manage the worry in lots of other ways too.
What can you do?
On the opposite side of worry is trust. The antidote to worry is to begin to trust that you are where you are meant to be at this time. That you have the skills and resources to respond to whatever life dishes up to you. That the only moment you have is this moment right now, and that it is important to enjoy this moment. You could loose sight of the potential of this present moment while you are worrying about a future that you have no guarantee will be yours. We can’t always trust in circumstances, but we can trust in ourselves.
Br. Andrew Hickey surmises that “what each of us needs is not merely just a few days in a resort.” He says that “maybe what we crave most is the silence and space to reflect on our lives and what it is that we are made for.” As Soulpreneurs we would say, taking time to discover our soul purpose!
Cultivate a little bit of vacation time for yourself every day. It will counteract the worry!
Will this be your next bold step?
Contact Elizabeth at Elizabeth@egbsoulpreneurs.ie or call 086 8037712 to find easy ways to reduce worry and live a freer life