We all worry at times, and there is probably no way to stop worrying forever. There are some specific ways to stop it right now, however. The following tips on how to stop worrying come from experience, because I’ve always been a bit of a worrier, and I had to learn some good techniques for stopping this energy-sucking habit. Here are five of the best.

1. Take action now. Any action towards a goal tends to diminish worry. Thinking too much about your goals or plans, especially if you dwell on the hurdles, will cause you worry and stress. Of course you should plan well, but when planning drifts towards worrying, it’s time to start doing something positive. Take action!

2. Make decisive decisions. When you want to stop worrying too much about an unresolved issues, you need to make decisive decisions, and even bad decisions may be better than doing nothing. Often you will immediately resolve the stress when you, for example, finally decide to quit that job, buy that house, or make that phone call. Nothing crowds and clouds your mind with worry as much as decisions waiting to be made. Make them now, or at least start gathering the information you need to make them. If they prove to be bad decisions, just make new ones.

3. Use mental categories. Too many things going on in your head? Put them on lists and you may feel better. It works well for many of us worriers. When you are dwelling too much on something, and you stop to schedule a time to work on it, or just put it on a list, it is easier to let go of it for now. Jot down that phone call you have to make on tomorrow’s list, and you’ll feel less worried now. You’re basically creating “mental categories.” In fact, just saying to yourself, “There’s nothing I can do about this until Monday,” can put a worry into a category of “nothing to worry about right now.”

4. Deal with problems directly and quickly. To eliminate worry when there are real problems, try to confront them head-on, and resolve them quickly. I once had to sue someone over a business matter, and I was worrying about it for weeks. When I finally just filed the papers, got on the phone, and came to an agreement, my stress was gone. Actually, my worrying began to dissipated as soon as I started acting, BEFORE the resolution (See #1).

There is more mental pain and worry in anticipating problems than in the problems themselves. If you lost a thousand dollars in the stock market last year, you probably suffer less from that today than you would from wondering if you’ll make it on time to a concert you paid $50 for. The anticipation of problems is what causes the most worry. Just deal with them head on as soon as is possible, and resolve them to the extent possible.

5. Meditate to eliminate worry. There are easy meditation techniques you can use to relax and to stop worrying. Try this: close your eyes, let the tension out of your body and take several deep breaths through your nose. That’s it. Want even easier meditation? Try brain wave entrainment CDs that do all the work for you. Just pop on the headphones and they’ll relax you by slowing your brain waves.

Try the above techniques. Make habits out of whichever ones work best to stop your worries. They need to be habits because nothing works if you forget to use it. In fact, until they become habitual, you may want to carry a list of your favorite techniques for eliminating worry and ways to relieve stress.

For many people who are reading and studying spiritual stories and spiritually based lessons, meditation after reading will work to help them gain a deeper understanding for the material. Setting a quiet time for meditation afterward lets your mind center and focus on the message of the story.

Focus on the essence of the story, and meditate. By doing so, you’ll surely get the most out of it. Immediately contemplate after reading a spiritual story. Don’t rush off to perform some little errands you feel you need to do or you’ll forget most of the lessons you need to learn. It is possible to gain a deeper understanding of the true lesson in the story when you thoughtfully and quietly center yourself to the words and thoughts you have just read.

Meditation is more than a quiet time. It is the perfect chance for you to reflect on things and focus on the more important realities of life. This type of concentration will give you a way to consider the larger meaning of the spiritual stories and lessons as they relate to your own life. Some of the ideas that may have at first seemed difficult to grasp can easily be assimilated and sorted when you allow your mind and spirit a quiet and meditative moment to contemplate.

Meditation is now being recognized by many religious organizations as an effective way for people to become more attuned to their inner spirit. With time, your consciousness will become a bigger part of your life as you learn how to welcome enlightened thoughts and centered behavior through meditation. Some people find comfort in meditation. It helps them set aside all of their cares and frustrations, even for a short period of time, to concentrate on the matter at hand.

When you focus and seriously meditate on a lesson, the subconscious areas of the mind help you put things into better perspective and allow you to glimpse ideas that are very subtle in nature.

Many years ago, I used to work with a bunch of single guys. One, whom I’ll call Dave, was not very well liked by the other guys at work. This was due in part to the fact that he was a jerk.

Okay, there might have also been a bit of envy involved. You see, Dave seemed to easily get dates with many of the beautiful women in the area. This was a mystery to many of the guys at work, and even seemed unfair.

I would hear comments like, “That lucky (blank)! How does that jerk go out with all the beautiful women?” But the solution was clear to anyone who paid attention - he asked them out! Of course, he really was a jerk, so they usually said no. However, he just kept asking, until some of the woman said yes.

Now isn’t this so common? We wonder at the “luck” of others, when the key is that those lucky people are doing the simple things we are afraid to do.

Who is more likely to get a date? A man who asks out one woman or a man who asks out ten?

Who is more likely to get a raise at work, a woman who just quietly does a good job and hopes it’s noticed, or one that does a good job and asks for a raise?

You have to have the courage to do something if you want the results of that action. This is obvious stuff, right? Almost all such “lessons” are, but we need to be reminded. We also need to take action to put lessons into practice.

Feel The Fear And Do It Anyhow

I was recently at one of those free money-making seminars, and the speaker asked who wanted a hundred-dollar bill. A few hands went up. When he asked who would come up and get it, only a few people out of hundreds approached the stage. He handed the bill to the first one there, while the crowd sat watching, too afraid to embarrass themselves.

Exactly why did this one man get the hundred dollar bill? Simply because he walked up and took it, while the others were too afraid.

We can see that fear gets in the way of having “good luck.” What can we do then to have more courage? We can act in the face of fear. Eleanor Roosevelt said, “You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You must do the thing which you think you cannot do.” I would add to this that you gain good luck.

Of course, there are some powerful techniques to make this process of developing courage easier, but that is a topic for another article.

There are many benefits of studying A Course in Miracles within a group environment. For example, the ability to listen to others’ opinions, ask questions, or just gain more perspective. Sometimes people can study ACIM on their own and yet they may find that they have problems or questions concerning what some of the ideas mean.

Within a forum, it’s possible to share your ideas and gain useful feedback immediately. This does not mean that you have to accept what they say unconditionaly, but it can give you a much deeper understanding or even help you to grasp a particular concept that was difficult when you studied A Course In Miracles on your own.

There are some times when a group will not only help you in coming to a greater understanding of the fundamental concepts, but they can also offer you a supportive environment that will nurture and foster you both mentally and spiritually. Knowing that the others who are involved in A Course In Miracles are interested in the same ideas and how to put them in practice will make it easier for you to open up with questions, ideas and suggestions of your own.

Sometimes ideas and thoughts in relation to forgiveness, personal sacrifice and dealing with spiritual feelings can be very emotional, and it is often very helpful to have others around you that can offer you advice and support as you come to grips with your own spiritual awakening.

Though it is fine to study a course like A Course In Miracles on your own, your understanding and awareness will almost certainly come at a much faster pace when you are able to participate in A Course In Miracles forum setting. This type of setting will be non-threatening and most people find that they actually are encouraged to provide their own thoughts and ideas to the rest of the group and they enjoy doing this.

“The unexamined life is not worth living.” — Socrates

Every moment of every day of our human existence contains lessons to be learned.  How much we learn and how much we grow can vary greatly depending on how much conscious time and effort we are willing to put into examining what the school of life presents us.  If you are a person that already tries to learn from every experience that you have, you may also be craving ways to learn even more.  Reading short spiritual stories can truly help take your personal spiritual growth to a new level.

One of the most delightful aspects of reading spiritual short stories is the opportunity to explore topics that you might never be able to personally experience.This can open your mind, body, and spirit, to discover much more wisdom than your own experiences can offer.  You can begin to read about cultures you would never be directly exposed to.You can start to learn through the experiences of others who are different than yourself.  You can begin to read about people of different faiths than your own.

Reading a variety of spiritual stories can allow you to vicariously experience many things that you would never get to experience should you not seek them out.  By reading spiritual short stories you can expand the base of things you have been exposed to which in turn will expand your spiritual depth.  It is amazing what spiritual truths become evident when you begin to read spiritual short stories that deal with life experiences of others that are very different from your own.

If you are truly interested in spiritual growth, start making it a part of your daily routine to read at least one new spiritual short story.To get the maximum benefit, look for stories that are notably different from your own life.  Truly try to put yourself in the details you read within the story.  Changing your perspective in this way can help you to open yourself up to learning spiritual truths that have never before occurred to you.

While you will never be able to live one life where you experience everything, you can expose yourself to many more things by reading spiritual short stories.  By immersing yourself in stories that include elements far different from your own personal experiences, you may find that you learn things you never realized possible.

When any of us listen to or read parables the lessons they contain are quite complex on many levels and these spiritual stories often cause us to reconsider the meaning of what we have heard long after the tale has been completed. Whenever we reread a story, new insights arise that help us paint a better overall picture of a story’s teachings.

A spiritual parable is rather like the 3D pictures that were popular many years ago. You may remember the elaborate pages of art that had hidden pictures within them. Some people couldn’t even see the hidden images within the pictures when they were prompted. This was because they were letting the colorful pictures overshadow the little buried treasures. It is much the same with spiritual stories. People hear the tale but at first may not see the wisdom and gifts that are contained within the story itself.

The benefits to these spiritual parables are in the challenge to our thinking and also the growth that they bring to an individual’s spiritual and emotional being. These words never have an absolute wrong or right lesson to be learned. The experience is completely unique and personal. Of all the blessings derived from sharing a spiritual story, this is perhaps the greatest. Teaching others is not always required for them to receive new understanding and insights. These stories concisely point out lessons and obligations that all can gain from in some way.

Spiritual stories that have spiritual knowledge and lessons to share offer benefit to all who hear them and read them and this knowledge does not leave us. The words of a particular parable may fade over time but the core meaning will steadfastly be an ever present part of our spirit. Therefore, whenever needed we can still draw upon it.