The realization that nothing can be held on to and that the tighter we cling to ourselves the more we want to protect and fortify the ego the more we fall out of sync with life, which inevitably perpetuates the cycle, we need to realize that there is nothing we can do to fortify and save ourselves in the long run. We might hang on to who we are in the short term but that won’t do anything but perpetuate our anxiety. We need to see that what must happen is to realize that there is no one to protect; that holding on to whatever we are supposed to let go or grasping at whatever we do not have is the ego itself. It is my sense of self that causes the worry. In fact it can be said that our entire personality is something of a constant muscular strain in our minds, the strain of I’m in here and they are out there.

The first step to overcome worry is to let the worry overcome you, do not force it away. We do not want to create more strain by trying to throw away what is presently with us. The urge to fight fear is the source of the fear itself. When I am worried and desire not to be worried it is exactly this desire that creates more worry. 

So if we are worried and realise that nothing we can do can get rid of the worry and that any writing and fleeing only fortifies the ego which is the source of our worry, what do we do?

Well what can we do? What can we do when there is nothing to do? We can be. That is all we do, it is all we ever do. It is the one human act not perpetuating nor forcing out the ego. It is simply the act at the cornerstone of sentience. We be and what about the worry? We let that be too? And what about our desires that caused the worry? We let that be too. And our desire to get rid of desire? Let that be too. For when we allow ourselves to be in whatever state we are in we can see more clearly that our fears are tied to our self preservation and that our clinging to desires and desire itself is the very core of our fear.  So when we have the time and space to be we can see that self preservation is a lost cause and separating ourselves from our ego to get rid of our fears is itself a form or our ego, we can learn and see that we are simply here. We are here right now and so are our fears and there is nothing good or bad about that. It’s just time to invite them in for tea. 

The more we label events as good and bad as right and wrong the more we sow division in ourselves. After the worry has passed we need to examine what it is that made us worried and we need to look at the quality of mind we were using to evaluate the decision, did we desire something? Did we want to hold on to something? If so why? And if we have concluded a valid why, was it even possible? Is it possible in the long run? Is it practical for our state of mind currently.

Are we floating in the river? Or are we swimming upstream? As we begin to see that all desire and worry are forms of preservation for our ego we begin to realize how illogical everyday human life is. Yes there are valid worries that we need to address at times, but when we accept that there is much out of our control we begin to see the issue with worry.