Advice

As I find ways to mitigate the worrying in my life, I'll list them here (of course, these are only suggestions and not intended to replace advice given by professionals). If you have any suggestions, please let me know!

• About.com suggests using cognitive reframing (learning to stop negative thoughts and replacing them with more positive ones) to deal with the fear of tornadoes, but I think this technique may be able to help day-to-day worrying, as well.
• Don't search the Internet right before bedtime because you may find something that will make you worry and cause you to have a sleepless night.
• When the media show the same devastation over and over again, change the channel and get your mind on other things.
• When you listen to people complaining about petty things, this may help you to put things in perspective and realize you don't need to "sweat the small stuff."
• If you're constantly worrying about something that you can't control, concentrate on insignificant things such as what you are going to eat for dinner. This may help to distract your worrying and get your mind on other things.
• See the bigger picture! If something happens because you didn't "worry" about it beforehand, take it as a learning experience and press on. Then you'll know when you have to worry and won't be left to just worry all the time!
• Create a list of things that you've worried about but never happened. This will help you to realize that things aren't always as bad as they have seemed.
• Shop! Yes, shop! And if you don't have much money to spend, window shop. Believe it or not, but shopping really helps to get my mind on other things.
• Listen to classical music, which is relaxing.
• Imagine yourself letting go of your worries. You could do this by imagining yourself throwing away a piece of paper or releasing a butterfly into the wild.
• Schedule a "worry time" each day and only allow yourself to worry during that time. Start off with 30-minute worry sessions the first week and then each week that follows, decrease the time by five minutes.