I have been thumbing thru your earlier posts and had pictured you with a large chunk of savings LOL up till reading this post more kudos too you for getting out their and doing this..

I will be arriving in Bangkok early June to start my adventure hopefully you will still be around.

@Tim – I like your outlook. Life has always provided with everything I need. Sometimes it’s easy to loose sight of that and get into the “I Want More” mode. I’ve found as long as we can figure out how our current situation is benefiting us, we need not worry. Glad this came to you with perfect timing!

@John – Hi John! Yes, I realized the other day that I hadn’t been worrying. Things had come up, I wasn’t sure what I was doing, I had no plan, and yet I didn’t even care. Just like you said, the worst case scenario oftentimes is not really that bad.

@Nate – Not sure I’m at fearless quite yet, but thanks for the vote of confidence! I have at least been able to convince myself to face them and stop running back to what’s comfortable. That is still the biggest challenge! Reading a great book you might like called ‘The Places that Scare You: A Guide to Fearlessness in Difficult Times’ by Pema Chodron, a female monk. Check it out!

@Carmen – Thanks for your comment! I laughed out loud when I got to the “Your children might be eaten by street dogs” – a worry that might be pretty valid in Thailand. Lol. I agree with you, worry can be more of a survival tactic. But, it also keeps us stuck, and comfortable. If we do not know what will happen to us, we are unlikely to try something new. Paying close attention to our thoughts is a great way to dispel these fears. I try to talk myself through my irrational fears and turn that energy into trusting that I’ve always been taken care of. When you can clear the mental chatter, you can feel much more relaxed! Try having a conversation with this “worrywart” when you hear the voice come on. You might begin to find humor in it, if anything :0)!

@Chris – I think it would be ridiculously boring!! Cheers to having NO IDEA what we are doing!

@Cath – Thanks! I agree! If I look at any ‘bad’ or ‘painful’ situation I’ve ever encountered, I have grown significantly. When we face opposition, we get to see what we are made of. We grow, learn, and become much stronger. I’m learning to change my mind, too, about any sort of judgment. We end up getting just what we need, just when we need it (whether we want it, or not)!!

We can’t prevent “bad” stuff from happening. So rather than worrying about “what if” bad stuff happens, you give us a great example of how we can rather live life to the full and build evidence for ourselves that actually we can handle anything. REAL SECURITY comes out of knowing that we can handle anything. And I guess we only know we can handle anything if we’ve actually given ourselves the opportunity to live through “bad” stuff.

I use the inverted commas when saying “bad” stuff because I’m starting to learn that there’s no such thing as bad stuff, because these sorts of experiences add such value to our lives (as your story shows!) that they really can’t be called bad.

Cath

Problems happen, sure. Preparing in advance is a good idea. However, I definitely need to learn to worry less. Worrying doesn’t solve problems it only makes them worse.

I an leaving next year for Costa Rica and other South American countries. Lately I have been worrying about the same things you wrote about. What if I run out of money, What if all my clients leave, etc etc.

And what does life send me in my email this morning.. An email filled with positive thinking and reassurance!

Everything will be alright and everything will work out for the best! It always has and it always will! I find the only time it doesn’t is when I don’t face my fears and don’t challenge myself.

Thank you I needed that! And its always great to know were not alone and there are other people who worry about the same things!