Last night, I attended a workshop led by Dr. Ann Clancy. During her presentation, Ann shared her definition of worry.

Worry, she said, is the habit of focusing on what you don’t want.

And, then, the light went on for me. Of course, we worry because we think that what we don’t want to happen will do just that—happen. We spend so much time thinking about what we don’t want that we forget to think about what we want. And, of course, we can’t work on creating what we want when our thoughts mull over and over on what we don’t want.

So, today, let’s let go of thoughts about what we don’t want. Let’s start a new habit: Thinking and talking about what we do want.

Perhaps you want a new way to start your day so that you have a few moments to yourself. Perhaps you’d like peace in a tough relationship. Or maybe you’d like help at night so you can sleep.

When you focus on what you want, you open up the possibilities. You begin to think about potential solutions. You consider who may be able to offer guidance or ideas or options. You move to try different solutions. In essence, when you think about what you want, you’ve taken the first step toward getting it.

So, what do you want?

Share what you want in our comments section below. I choose one of the commenters to receive autographed copies of my Take Comfort books (Take Comfort, Reflections of Hope for Caregivers and Take Comfort, Too, More Reflections of Hope).

Update: Congrats to Liliana, who won the books!

Resources

• Color-coded belly buttons to detect a caree’s needs… Crazy? Or, our future? Share your ideas about technology we’ll use in a future caregiving life for a chance to win: http://bit.ly/ieTXiS
• What’s caregiving like for you? Share your experiences in our 2011 Annual Family Caregiver Survey; get a 30-minute coaching session with Denise and a chance to win a $100 Amazon.com gift card. Take the survey here.
• Join us for our next free webinar on Thursday, May 12, at Noon CT (1 p.m. ET, 10 a.m. PT), Keep Your Brain Buff. G-J will share ways to help keep our brain in shape.

Related Articles

• Tell Us: Why Does Growing Come During Hardship? (caregiving.com)
• Tell Us: What Don’t I Know About You? (caregiving.com)
• From Worrying to Trusting (caregiving.com)
• Think 90% (caregiving.com)