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It's Sunday morning... 7 am. Just
finished letting Ghost out of the bedroom (she sleeps with us) and making
myself a cup of tea.
My 'monkey mind' is busy this
morning thinking about too many things to allow me another hour of sleep.
Hurricanes, politics, nuclear tests, racial unrest, not to mention standard
aging concerns regarding family, finances, and health.
There was a time where these things
never entered my mind... or if they did, they fluttered by briefly. But now
they tend to linger... and prevent that carefree sleep of childhood. I know
it's useless to worry or dwell on things one has no control over... and I used
to have better control over these thoughts. Now my aging mind seems to keep
returning to them.
But I realize that this is not a
good thing.... as it only makes one anxious... which serves no purpose. So
I strive to focus on the good and the 'now'... not future possibilities. I've
learned over the years that just because something has never happened before, doesn't
mean it won't... but worrying about it won't change anything. Not saying
certain preparations shouldn't be made just in case, but worrying in advance is
useless and detrimental to health.
So I will go on with my day
deliberately focusing on the good... the little things that bring joy ( family,
cats, friends, creating, giving, a good cup of coffee or tea, chocolate, etc.).
There's a saying or a quote that
runs through my mind occasionally-
"the world is so full of wonderful
things, you'd think that we'd all be as happy as kings"...
and there's another -
"Beyond
the gloom of this world lies joy, Take Joy!"
Sounds like good advice to me.
Thanks, Rian.
ReplyDeleteThey say wisdom comes with age. Well, I'm not too sure about that, but perhaps with age comes more time to think about things... which obviously can go either way.
DeleteIt's excellent advice, but hard to put into practice. I've suffered from "monkey mind" all my life, am consciously am trying, as I get older, to let go of things over which I have no control (which is most of life), to focus on the here and now. I can toss out another quote, though I don't know who said it or wrote it: "Do the best with what's in front of you and leave the rest to the powers above you."
ReplyDeleteWishing you peace of mind.
Yes, a shortened version of the same thought, Kim is "Let go and let God". I also like, "Breathe in, breath out, move on".
Deleteand why is it, those things we worry about seem ten times worse in the middle of the night. I'm up most mornings before 5:00. Daylight and watching the sun come up helps me a lot. I like the quotes.
ReplyDeleteDon't know why that is... but it is true. I used to be up by 5 when I was working, now I read in bed from 10 to 11 or so and get up between 7:30 and 8 most days.
DeleteWorrying about something all the time is exhausting-----at least in part because there are endless opportunities to worry about this that or the other. Not good! Like you say, reasonable precautions make a lot of sense, when possible, but worrying about things we have little or no control over serves no good purpose. Also if we think back to what we were worrying about last year or 5 years ago and realize that they just never happened it should make us realize how useless most of our worrying really is.
ReplyDeleteI agree that it isn't good and serves no purpose... and during the day we are busy and we can keep worrisome thoughts at bay. But what do you do when they pop up in the middle of the night? I won't take a pill, so I either get up and find something to do or sometimes make a cup of tea and go back to bed.
DeleteGreat sentiments, I'll try to take your advice :)
ReplyDeleteDiana
Thanks, Diana. Me too.
DeleteThank you for the lovely quotes, and I too will sometimes wake in the middle of the night and stew about things. It's part of the aging process, I'm sure. But mostly I sleep very well and wish you many good nights of sleep. My grandmother used to respond to my admonition not to worry about me with "well, somebody has to!" :-)
ReplyDeleteDo you really think it's part of the aging process? Does seem to be. I don't remember waking up at night worrying about the state of the world when I was younger. I do remember spending the night with my hand on my child's chest who was sick with URI... Maybe our worries take in more scope as we age?
DeleteI'm a worrier too! My mom was too, and her mom before her. Mom always said if she had some project going (She was a seamstress.) she would think about it at night and fall sleep. When I start the worrying thing, I know it is time to begin a new project. Maybe a piece of pottery... :~)
ReplyDeleteI do think of ongoing projects at night... but don't think that wakes me up in the early hours. I have thought of getting up and working on some when I can't go back to sleep, but haven't actually tried that yet. Usually a cup of tea does the trick.
DeleteDitto here. I think that when we were younger we had so much to do that we only concentrated on those things that were important to keep the family functioning, but now we really only have ourselves to think of mainly. I try not to worry these days, I look back on all the worries of the past and see that they are gone now, so why did I worry in the first place.
ReplyDeleteBriony
x
You may be right in the thought that we have more time to think about things... both inside and outside the family... with retirement. But I do blame part of the problem on the current political situation. Never before have I found need to be concerned with what is happening both in the world and in our own country.
DeleteI also tend to worry about things, I'm sure my grandchildren get tired of hearing me give advice on trying to steer clear of "what if's", but it's hard to look the other way, when you can see the train coming down the tracks...
ReplyDeleteLove your quotes !
Hugs,
Jo
Thanks, Jo. "What if's" can paralyze us.
Delete