The body’s healing system responds favorably to positive attitudes, thoughts, moods, and emotions (love, hope, optimism, caring, intimacy, joy, laughter, and humor) and adversely to negative ones (hate, hopelessness, pessimism, indifference, anxiety; depression, and loneliness). It is best to organize your life to maintain as positive a focus as possible. Would you agree? This does not mean you should avoid negative emotions

1. Getting distracted
Worrying about something while you’re doing something else at the same time can be difficult, especially if that other thing unrelated to your worry demands your attention. This means that if you are having trouble turning off a persistent and nagging worry; try to find some way to distract yourself. This strategy makes particular sense if, in fact, you can’t do very much to fix or resolve the situation or circumstance you’re worrying about. Your distraction could be watching TV, watching a funny or engrossing movie, reading a good book, cooking something you like, gardening, doing carpentry — any involvement that can hold your attention and take you away from your worry. Sometimes the distractions can be even less obvious. You can distract yourself by window-shopping, people-watching, remembering the details of a favorite vacation, or simply getting into some kind of idle conversation with another employee or resident. Anything that can take your mind off your worry will work.

List three ways you can distract yourself from your worry. Maybe you can straighten a desk drawer or start work on your Monthly Calendar or call the volunteer group that wants to schedule a visit.

2. Walk
One of the frequently overlooked ways of coping with worry is to go for a walk. A mentioned this in the preceding Section, but felt it worthy of individual attention… brisk walk or a slow meditative walk, whatever seems to fit your mood. I like to notice evergreen trees particularly. They seem so hardy and sturdy. Sometimes I will stand close to one close my eyes and imagine its healthy vital energy flowing into me. When you are walking, you are distracted, and you are releasing physical stress and tension — all terrific antidotes to stress. This calms me down and help my thoughts to flow.

3. Get moving! Move physically in any way you can to stop your Stress Cycle!
Is there a Curves by you? It's cheap and women only. The great thing is they have a circuit of machines you use at your own pace. If you feel like being laid back, don't push so hard. You really feel like you are accomplishing something, even with a very light work out. Usually they are located in a strip mall with easy parking lot access. As you are moving your legs or arms you might envision punching or kicking someone. Gee what fun to get all of the hostility out in a safe way and you aren't even arrested. J After about only five to ten minutes of this, I find it very hard to concentrate on anything. My "Big Worry" seems to have floated away.

Part of the positive effect any physical movement comes from the physical relaxation that follows physical exertion. With your body more relaxed, your mind slows. So if you hate exercise, just try pacing around your house.

Also your body may be secreting endorphins, hormones that are known to have stress-reducing effects. The bonus: Not only can you control your unwanted worrying, you can burn a couple of calories at the same time. If you are at work and cannot pace just stretch you arms back in a yawning-type of stretch. This movement may be just enough to jar your mind into a less stressful, calming, or even a solution-focused mode.

4. Talking about it
Most of us feel better and worry less when we’ve had an opportunity to talk to someone about those things that are bothering us. When we can get our worries out on the table, it gives us some perspective, and with this perspective can come greater feelings of control and hope. You need, of course, someone to tell your worries to. This person could be a family member, a friend, or simply an understanding and sympathetic listener.

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