Worry!

My mother used to tell me as a child "you have five minutes to worry about this problem if you cannot fix it within five minutes then you need to stop worrying." As a child I worried about everything. World hunger, world peace, the environment, what would people think of me, would I win my next swim meet, and list went on and on. I was a compulsive worrier and to some extent today I still am.

The anxiety of worrying was overwhelming. One could literally what if one's self to death. My mother was right then and continues to be right today, but don't tell her this. You can worry yourself to death, literally, about your financial situation. You can stay up every night losing sleep worried about whether or not your paycheck is going to be enough this time. You can yell at the kids and kick the dog because you are worried about how you are going to get money to feed these guys. You can disconnect the phone and and not answer the knock at the door because you are worried about who is contacting you.

Does all that worrying get you anywhere? Not to my knowledge and experience. I do not hear anyone giving testimony that by worrying every minute of every day this leads to a peaceful end. If you follow the path as outlined above you will lose sleep which leads to poor health and a cranky attitude which results in job loss or divorce or kids petitioning for emancipation and the dog runs away and the sweepstakes guy cannot deliver your winning check because you will not open the door.

Okay, the story above is a little far fetched but not by much. Stop and think about how much time you spend worrying about your finances. Now be honest with yourself and tell yourself has ALL that time worrying made any positive difference? NO should be the answer. So worrying is a waste of time. Quit arguing with yourself and make a change today.

Instead of worrying think about what steps you can take to make a difference in your life today. The greatest thing about life is that you have the ability to make a change but it is up to you as to whether or not you will take that first step towards gaining financial peace.