​Why do we tend to worry about future things that haven’t even happened?

Answer Podcast

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
control so why do we tend to think about things in future and we get worried yeah so why are we actually so worried about things which have not even happened which may not even happen see first of all it’s a sign of intelligence to look at the future and to prepare for the future so in that sense trying to envision what what can happen in future is a sign of intelligence so that’s definitely not wrong but where we go wrong is that when we are preparing for the future it is we who are in control that means I direct my thoughts ok in one month I got an exam the exam is on this subject and the syllabus is these books so I have to study five books I have studied one book I have to study four more books so here I am planning out if I study for one week each book the four books I can complete in four weeks so like that basically this is planning for the future in planning it is I am in control and I am directing my thoughts towards the future and then I each possibility that comes up I evaluate that and I prepare for it ok if this happens I can do this if this happens I can do this but when there is anxiety we are not in control the mind is in control and rather than we consciously going towards the future and evaluating the what may happen in the future and how to deal with it the mind simply takes us to the future this can go wrong that can go wrong that can go wrong that can go wrong so we are not in control at that time and that’s why we if we prepare for the future by thinking intelligently we feel actually reassured we feel more confident I am prepared for what is going to come in the future but when we are not in control and the mind takes us here there there then we actually end up feeling very unprepared very insecure very fearful so that’s why it’s not that we shouldn’t think about the future but rather we need to think about it in a calm directed way so if I have nothing to think if I am just doing one thing at that time I start thinking about other things then quite often I will not be able to focus on that so if I am walking along the road and I think what is going to happen tomorrow what is going to happen day after tomorrow what is going to happen day after tomorrow after that then I will end up in worrying so in the Bhagavad Gita’s frame of analysis the mind functions in three broad ways three broad ways it functions this is called modes or guna so that means just like if you have a car I don’t know do we have geared cars over here first gear second gear third gear like that a car can go at different speeds in different gears and when it goes in different gears it’s the same car but it functions in different ways when the gear changes so like that we can say that our mind has different gears so there is goodness there is sattva guna, rajo guna, tamo guna in English it can be translated as goodness, passion and ignorance so basically in the mode of goodness when the mind is functioning at that time first there is thought then there is action Prakashya first there is thought then there is action when the mind is in passion it is a habitual tendency first there is action then there is thought I do it why did I do that did I do the right thing I speak and why did I do that and third in ignorance actually there is neither thought nor action there is just imagination what this will happen that will happen that will happen so now this is something like you know if the floor is inclined say this table were inclined this way then if I pour water on the floor naturally the water will flow in this direction because that’s where the inclination is so like that our mind it has developed certain inclinations based on the way we have thought in the past so that’s why our thoughts if we just stay idle not doing anything we find that our thoughts go in a particular direction somebody is a cricket fan their thoughts may go towards cricket somebody is into politics their thoughts go towards politics and most of us one of the inclination is towards anxiety this may go wrong that may go wrong so now this is not if you tell a person who is anxious don’t worry sometimes it may calm them down but how can I not worry my thoughts go there and I start to worry so if the floor is inclined in a particular way naturally the water will flow in that way that direction and at that time just say don’t worry to such a person whose inclination is whose thought patterns have become that way that’s not practical for them so then we need to actually change the change the mental gear what that means is that just as if the floor is inclined in a particular way and then every time water falls it will move in this direction and I have to put in greater effort to push it in the other direction but if I just redesign the floor by which it is no longer inclined in that way then the water will not flow in that direction so when we practice spirituality it is not just that we are controlling the thoughts okay you are worrying don’t worry that’s one level we definitely do but as we chant the mantras basically we could say that the the mental landscape itself changes so when the mental landscape changes when we become more and more spiritual rather than our thoughts going towards the future in an uncontrolled way our thoughts go towards the unchanging reality towards the supreme consciousness and that gives us rest and then when we look at the future we look at the future for preparing so firstly looking at the future is a sign of intelligence but that same capacity for preparing for the future that is constructive when we are in control but when we are not in control when the mind takes control then it becomes destructive for us and spirituality changes the destructive inclination of the mind by reshaping our inner landscape does it answer your question? yes