The Worrying Walk

Have you ever done an early morning walk along the beach? It's quite nice.

This morning my wife and I woke up early, sacrificing our sleep-in. We knew today would be great weather and we planned to do the famous Bondi to Coogee walk . It's been a long time since we've done it and we've missed the ocean. As we were about to arrive... we realised we wer

en't the only ones wanting to do this walk today. There was no parking anywhere.

Damn you Sydney and your beautiful weather!

Well. That left me with two options. Either park in the expensive parking lot (over $50), or park for free in a two hour spot and cross my fingers.

I crossed my fingers.

We had a great time. Great walk next to the ocean, lots of people, good breeze and great views. I was on a high on the way back, then a thought came to my mind 'it's been over 3 hours, we're going to get a parking ticket. Shit.'

I replied what had happened. I was on such a high and having such a great time, my brain decided to conjure up a thought that brought me back down to earth. We were still miles away from the car, there was nothing I could do. But I worried for a second. What if?

I started going down a rabbit hole... we're saving for a trip to Europe, a ticket wouldn't be convenient. It'd ruin the day. It's such a hassle to pay through the online system. And it kept building up until we arrived at the car.

I looked and saw…nothing. Clear windshield. No ticket. No issues at all. Woohoo!!

Bur reflecting on this driving back home, why did I let my worry take the joy out of my walk on the way back? Is there a way to let that stop happening? There was no way I could do anything about it. I knew that worrying about it didn't help with anything—so why couldn't I stop it?

I opened up a book when I got home. It's called 'The Big Leap'.

In it, the author talks about his strategy for worrying less, and this is his strategy:

1. I notice myself worrying about something.

2. I let go of the worry-thoughts, shifting my focus away from them.

3. I wonder: what positive new thing is trying to come into being?

4. I usually get a body feeling (not a thought or idea) of where that positive new thing is trying to come through.

5. I open my focus to feel that body feeling deeply.

6. I let myself feel it deeply for as long as I possibly can.

7. Later, I often get an idea of the positive thing that was trying to come through.

My goal from here -- notice when I'm worrying about something and try to put my mind to something else. Be happier for longer.

That's it for today. If this helps, I'll share more from the book (after some testing).

Harry

P.S. Go for a walk today, without your phone. It's quite freeing.