Create Your Own Worry Tree

Have you ever thought about having your own worry tree? A proper place to display all those ideas that cause us restlessness, unrest and anxieties, and that would allow us to analyze them from afar. This would free us from a tremendously heavy load that we carry on our backs every day, as this affliction increases every moment.

Worrying is inevitable. Our mind works most of the time based on fears and doubts about what we do, did and will do. However, many people manage to quiet these terrifying thoughts that it is sometimes so difficult to ignore. The consequence is a terrible grief that accompanies us relentlessly.

the worry tree

Nothing better to understand how the worry tree works than reading this precious story that shows a carpenter and his curious boss.

“A wealthy merchant hired a carpenter to restore an old colonial house. As the merchant was one of those people who like to have everything under control and was concerned that the work was done well, he decided to spend a day at home to see how the works were being developed.

At the end of the day, he realized that the carpenter had worked hard, despite having suffered several setbacks. To complete the unlucky day, the car also did not want to work, so the manager offered to take it home.

The carpenter didn’t speak for the entire journey, visibly upset and worried about all the setbacks he’d had throughout the day. However, when he got home, he invited the merchant to meet his family and have dinner, but before opening the door, he stopped in front of a small tree and stroked its branches for a few minutes.

When he opened the door and entered the house, the transformation was radical: he looked like a happy man. Dinner passed between laughter and lively conversation. At the end of the night, the carpenter accompanied the merchant to his car. When they passed in front of the tree, it asked him:

– What is so special about this tree? Before entering you were very upset and worried, but after touching her you became another man.

– That’s the problem tree, also known as the tree of the concerns – said the carpenter – I am aware that I can not avoid mishaps at work, but not why take the concerns home. When I touch its branches, I leave the worries there and pick them up the next morning when I get back to work. Interestingly, each morning I find less reason to worry than I left the day before.

That night, the rich merchant learned one of the most valuable lessons of his life”

a valuable teaching

Worries are like being on an exercise bike. No matter how much you pedal, you’ll never get anywhere. The tree of worries is a ritual that can be practiced thanks to meditation. Breathing when we are most frustrated, finding that relaxation that allows our negative emotions to be released.

For some people it works better to go for a run, take a walk or listen to music. You choose the shape of your worry tree where you will leave all that useless weight hanging. It’s like taking off your shoes after a day at work. You feel relieved.

As the previous fable teaches us so well, when we put our worries aside and look at them the next day, we realize that we have far fewer reasons to break our heads. This is because we see them in the distance, with a cold mind fruit of rest. When we take time to go back to everything that worries us, we become aware that it doesn’t have the importance we had given it.

What to do when there is a thought that is hard to let go of? In this situation, it is essential to dedicate part of our own time. It could be 15 minutes or half an hour. Reflect on what torments you so much and think about its origin, the consequences it may have, whether it is realistic or not. When you’re done, he can give you a solution, if you have one. Otherwise, just dismiss that worry.

Anguish, anxiety, malaise… All this is in the past if you learn to plant your worry tree today and use it as a detonator of the peculiar mental dynamics that such tree represents. By practicing you will be able to get out of your mind all those ideas that make you feel so bad and that do not allow you to live in peace. It’s time to let go of everything that doesn’t allow us to enjoy the present.

Images courtesy of Amy Giacomelli.