Worry is the discrepancy between  your expectations and reality

A man walked into a bar looking worried and upset.

The bartender asked him, ‘What’s the matter? You look very worried about something.’

The man said, ‘My wife and I had a fight and she told me that she wouldn’t talk to me for a month.’

The bartender consoled him, ‘It’s okay.

One month isn’t that long.’ The man said, ‘I know. The month is up today!’

Everyone has his or her own set of worries! If I ask you what you worry about, you will tell me, ‘I don’t have a job, that’s my worry.’ Your neighbor will say, ‘My job is my main worry!’ Someone else will say, ‘My children are my worry.’ Another person will say, ‘I don’t have children, that’s my worry!’ One person’s dream is another person’s worry! You will not find any logic in it at all. 

What is meant by ‘worry’?  Worry arises whenever things are not happening as you want them to happen.  It is the discrepancy between your expectations and reality. 

For example, you feel your son should stay at home with you, whereas he feels he should be by himself, away from you. You feel your salary should be a few thousand dollars more. Your boss feels otherwise. You want to finish your project by a certain time. But things are happening too slowly and it seems an impossible task. These are all causes for worry. What you want and expect does not match what others want and expect. 

You continuously expect things to happen in a certain way. Whether it is as big as your career or as small as what time your husband should come home for a meal, you continuously impose your will upon what is happening and worry about it.