Worry.

I must not fear.
Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain.^[2]

This is the Litany Against Fear of the Bene Gesserit, a group in the science fiction novel Dune, by Frank Herbert. I think for a start it is interesting to see how powerful such things can be, and how they can be produced from a fiction writer as well as any of the great religions or philosophies.

The part that really rings true to me is the section that reads, "Fear is the mind killer." I think this is a really important insight, far more important than an affirmation not to fear. Fear is a biological reality within humans, a pre-mammalian reaction to possible danger. It is vital to have fear to simply stay alive. Fear of high cliffs, or bears, or car crashes are all things that enable us to survive. However, because fear is such a basic drive in humanity and is built for dangerous situations, it overrides the rest of the mind. Fear kills the rational mind, it prevents thought, understanding, perspective.

The combination of fear and consciousness, produces the mental state of worry. Worry is a reaction to the conscious idea that there will be fear in the future. Worry isn't the adrenaline-pumping, muscle-bunching, instinctive reaction of fear. Worry is the imagination of future bad things, repeated ad nauseum, in an energy sapping, joy destroying habit.

I think worry is an over-reaction to an important natural process, in the same way that addictions are over-reactions to necessary processes like eating, or seeking pleasure. It is, of course, really important for people to think about the future, to imagine the good and the bad that might happen in order to make decisions. I'm not someone who subscribes to Jesus' exhortation to "Care not for the morrow for the morrow will care for itself." I think planning and thinking are necessary and good. However, what worry consists of is this thinking and planning in a closed loop. It results from a situation wherein the future is not ideal and all choices that a person can make will result in some negative situation. This unsatisfactory situation results in the problem being mulled over and over, always coming up with the same unpleasant conclusion, which starts the cycle over again. The problem with this is that then our present existence becomes dominated by future difficulty regardless of our present circumstances.

For me, this situation recently has been about my dog, Larry. Larry has gone through a series of operations on his knees, one successful on one leg, and a series of failed attempts on his other leg. Right now he is at the vets, in a place he hates, while we hope his knee recovers. The chances are that it won't and through no fault of ours or his, his future is likely to be one of consistent arthritic pain and some level of limping, perhaps pretty severe. The alternative is for us to put him down. So, the future almost certainly holds one of two unpleasant alternatives. I will have to make a choice between those two alternatives and this has been preying on my mind continually. The result has been sadness, moping, lack of activity, lack of interest in other things and constantly going through a decision-making process that has already reached the furthest it can go at this time.

Worrying therefore is useless, an outgrowth of a useful process of thinking about the future, but one which damages the present. If I worry about my retirement rather than making my best guesses about how to prepare for retirement and then forget about it, I am damaging all the time between then and now. If I worry about my dog I am not appreciating things like the sunshine, music, a good book, how much I love my wife. To be happy, the most important thing, it is necessary to not worry. To accept the things that I cannot change.

How does one not worry? As with almost everything there are different levels of worry between different people. The tendency to worry is a biological trait, just like depression, or weight. But like depression and weight, human beings can do things to reduce their worry. For a start people can recognize what is worry. Simply the process of identifying useless thoughts about the future can make a great difference. Paying attention to self-talk, and then trying to replace it with other thoughts (such as what around you is beautiful, or fun, or what you are grateful for) can make a big difference. A hugely beneficial technique is meditation, in which one trains the mind to pay attention and not wander in negativity. Of course, the most important thing is to fill your mind with the wonder and splendor that is life if you just notice.