Are You Living On Another Planet?
“If you believe that feeling bad or worrying long enough will change a past or future event, then you are residing on another planet with a different reality system.” – William James
Another way of putting it is: worry is a prayer for what you don’t want.
To be sure, feelings of grief, loss and mourning have their time and place – and not grieving in a healthy way is harmful – but we often spend too much time and energy thinking about what we don’t want.
Time spent thinking about what we don’t want – outside of small amounts of considering risk and contingencies – is time wasted, pure and simple.
At any given moment we have a choice: think about what we want, and move towards it; or think about about something else (and not move towards what we want).
Practice choosing better. Move towards what you want.