Have you ever been watching your child at play, feeling love and joy and all of a sudden find your thoughts spinning off into all sorts of worry? Has one worrisome thought ever brought on a terrible cycle of more fearful thoughts? If this has happened you are not alone.
Sometimes worry is a fleeting feeling of concern which is just a part of being a parent. Sometimes it is a way to attempt to protect you child by anticipating possible problems. And, in some ways worry can be of benefit. But when your mind starts racing with worry that creates anxiety and there is nothing you can do it becomes disabling and not helpful.
In addition if you are a parent of a child who has special needs it is understandable that worry can take on a whole new meaning. Because, the reality is that your child might have to overcome additional hardships. And you are dealing with the additional stress that comes with loving and caring about your child.
Wanting to protect your child and at times feeling helpless, not knowing what the future will hold is difficult. But, when we create thoughts about possible negative future concerns, that are outside of anyone’s control, these worry serve no positive purpose.
And this is the types of worry we want to change. Worry when you have absolutely no control of the outcome, creates exhaustion and pain. And it puts a dark, heavy cloud over the joy and love you have for your child.
Before I talk about techniques to stop worry in its tracks, let’s look at the positive purpose of worry.
Worry can alert you to things that need to be taken care of. It can give you a glimpse of the consequences of taking certain actions. Worry can keep you watchful for symptoms that indicate a possible life-threatening problem, and it can motivate you to take care of something that needs to be done.
But when worry starts to cycle into all sorts of negative, scary future possibilities over which you have no control it stops serving a positive purpose.
Next week we will continue discussing techniques to get relief from worry. For now start by calming the mind with the video guide. Click here for the “calming the mind” exercise.