One thing I have learnt so far from my experiences and from my elders is that it is difficult to worry while you are busy doing something that requires planning and thinking.
Why does such a simple thing as keeping busy help to drive out anxiety? Because of a law---one of the most fundamental laws ever revealed by psychology. And that law is: that it is utterly impossible for any human mind, no matter how brilliant , to think of more than one thing at any given time. You don’t believe it? Very well, then, let’s try an experiment.
Suppose you lean right back now, close your eyes, and try, at the same instant, to think of the statue of liberty and of what you plan to do tomorrow morning. ( Go ahead, try it.)
You found out, didn’t you, that you could focus on either thought in arm, but never on both simultaneously.?
Well, the same thing is true in the field of emotions. We cannot be pepped up and enthusiastic about doing something exciting and feel dragged down by worry at the very same time. One kind of emotion drives out the other.
Any psychiatrist will tell you that work----keeping busy---is one of the best anaesthetics even known for sick nerves.
When we are not busy, our minds tend to become a near-vacuum. Nature rushes in to fill the vacant mind. With what? Usually with emotions. Why? Because emotions of worry, fear, hate, jealousy, and envy are driven by primeval vigour and the dynamic energy of the jungle. Such emotions are so violent that they tend to drive out of our minds all peaceful, happy thoughts and emotions.
The remedy for worry is to get completely occupied doing something constructive.
George Bernard Shaw said, “ The secret of being miserable is to have the leisure to bother about whether you are happy or not”. So don’t bother to think about it! Spit oon your hands and get busy. Your blood will start circulating; your mind will start ticking- and pretty soon this whole positive upsurge of life in your body will drive worry from your mind. Get busy. Keep busy. It’s the cheapest kind of medicine there is on this earth-and on of the best.
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