WORRYING: What a Waste of Time
Photo by Molnár Bálint on Unsplash
Like many people, I’ve spent way too much time worrying about things I have no control over. And even after all that worrying, things work out however they are supposed to anyway. So worrying is not helpful.
I’ve worried about boyfriends, my marriage, divorce, my kids, my money, my job — and everything eventually worked out just as it was supposed to. I see that now. From this vantage point, I can see that everything happened for a reason, and it all leads me to this time and place. So I can now declare that worrying is a waste of time.
But should we be concerned?
That’s not to say that we shouldn’t be concerned about certain things. You should be concerned about your health. You should be concerned about your budget, perhaps. Those are things that you can take action to resolve. The Andreia Philosophy writes that “[w]orry is like travel using a rocking chair as your vehicle. You’re doing something, but also nothing.”
Recognize the problem.
The first step is to recognize the problem that is causing this worry. Then it would help if you took action. Inaction will only lead to more worry.
If you are worried about your weight, make a plan to correct whatever is causing the weight gain and then execute that plan. The issue is almost always fixable. But sitting and reading about how to lose weight, for example, will usually not fix the problem. Reading social media for hours will not fix the problem. Merely talking about it will not fix the problem. Take action, execute your plan and stop worrying.
If you are worried that you aren’t making enough money, take on a side hustle or make a plan to get a better job. Either way, you must take action and execute the plan. The paralysis of worry will not fix any problem.
If the constant news cycle is causing you excessive worry, turn it off. Spend two minutes of screen time getting caught up with the news of the day — but then turn it off. Anything more than that, and you are just watching and hearing the same news loop over and over again. This constant bombardment of anxiety-causing “news” will only cause you excessive stress and unnecessary worry. Eliminating this will also allow you more time to work on constructive projects instead of worrying about things you cannot change.
The discussion of the differences between worry and anxiety is a more complex topic and beyond the scope of this short article, but you should know that worry is generally a temporary situation. In contrast, anxiety is more longstanding and can impair one’s ability to function correctly.
Try to focus on changing those things that you can and accepting the things you have no control over — at least in the short term. Hopefully, this will help you avoid any unnecessary worry allowing you to live with less stress. If you can do this, your life will be much happier.
