Michelle White

It began with a boy who worried and a teacher who needed a solution.

Aaron was an anxiety filled boy, worrying day after day about things that were stressful or he was afraid to do. I gave him a Worry Jar, where he could keep his worries. When the worry popped back in his head, he learned to say the words, “worries, worries in the jar”, instead.

Learning how to deal with anxiety is hard. However, Aaron never gave up. That boy used his Worry Jar every day. I never realized how much it changed him until…

In 2001, I was in a powered parachuting accident that left me paralyzed from the chest down. My own anxiety hit a peak, while I was in the hospital recovering and now learning to navigate life from a wheelchair. What would things look like for me in my day to day life?

That’s when something amazing happened. A Worry Jar, was sent to me. This time the student helped the teacher. With a special message, now it’s your turn to put your worries in the jar, it was my turn to use The Worry Jar. At a time I needed it the most, The Worry Jar had returned.

Simply put, The Worry Jar is a way to manage anxiety. A worry jar is a concept that has been around for a while. However, the story of The Worry Jar and the character in the story, are one of a kind.

Think about the impact we can have on our children, when we provide them with resources they can apply throughout their life. However, so many children do not have a resource that will help them learn to manage their anxiety. When anxiety is left unmanaged, it can effect sleep, mood, and concentration, along with physical symptoms like headaches and stomach pain. This can lead to noticeable behavior at school, such as disruptive or noncompliant behavior.

Worries, worries in the jar, my friends!

Michelle