Are you a worrier OR a warrior?

I still clearly remember this question from my manager at work in 2006. Although it’s been more than 15 years since, this question keeps coming back at me like a boomerang. More so, when I run into my annoying habit of worrying about anything and everything. It’s funny that sometimes when I have nothing to worry about, I go like… Hold on a minute, something’s not right. I iterate through all the current situations in life & try to identify some potential problem that I can worry about. Proactiveness? No… Probably the negative side of that.

I have met a lot of people who enviously fall in the opposite side of this spectrum. They don’t worry much. If a problem arrives, they fight it out like one should do. Like a prepared warrior routinely going about his/her business. It’s unbelievable how one is not fazed with such a big daunting problem. While I am busy worrying about my supposedly big problem, they wouldn’t even classify it as a problem. There must be hundreds of books and articles on how to stop worrying. But if we don’t make the necessary changes in approach towards life, one continues to be a worrier. I am an optimistic & extrovert person by nature, but for some reasons I am stuck with this worrying mentality: Did I plan all the details properly? Did I miss doing something? The list goes long.

In a way, worrying is required. Things can go wrong, but that doesn’t warrant constant worrying. The alternate approach should be to do the best you can & face the problems head on. Like a warrior ready with armor & weapons, ready for the fight, whatever out there. If one has prepared enough (well, what is “enough” is debatable, but let’s just say enough to the best of your knowledge), one should not worry. Be a warrior & face the enemy (figuratively speaking). Moving from “worrier” class to “warrior” class requires much more than just book reading. And the journey is long. I am slowly moving there. Probably it will take me few more years to get there. Till then, I like to remind myself everyday “Am I a worrier OR a warrior?“.