THE NARRATIVE ARC
Change Your Narrative and Change Your Life
My friend taught me how to stop my ‘worry loop’
My husband would tell you that I am a worrier. I am certain it is genetic, and I can thank my mother for that particular troublesome gene. Or perhaps I blame her for a learned pattern of thinking. As a child, I could recognize my mother’s worry cycles, and I could also see her relief when someone proved her wrong.
My mother’s worst fears were not realized and the worst did not occur. But she never stopped worrying about the next thing on her mental anxiety list. Her worry, anxiety, and depression affected me and my siblings in different ways that followed us into adulthood.
I am the gay dad of three grown children in their thirties. Worries are over, right? The hard work was done when they turned eighteen. I still clearly remember how I foolishly thought, “Ok, the hard work is done!” when the last one was out of diapers. Little did I know then that the work and worries only get bigger as the children get older.
You know the drill. “What if I am let go from my job?” Or, “What if my candidate loses the election?” In the Midwest, we worry about the weather and the height of the corn at a particular date in summer. “Knee high by the Fourth of July.” is the late…
