Hugh Blair, a Scottish minister of religion in the 1700s wisely wrote:
“Worry not about the possible troubles of the future; for if they come, you are but anticipating and adding to their weight; and if they do not come, your worry is useless; and in either case, it is weak and in vain, and a distrust of God’s providence.”
Those words are as true today as they were back in the 1700s.
Worry is such a waste of time. It robs us of the happiness we could be feeling right now. It distracts us from living our best lives.
And for what? Something that may, or may not, actually happen?
Have a look at the following 2 diagrams.
Diagram 1 depicts a timeline that represents life. Something happens. If you are above the line, not worrying or anticipating what could go wrong, you’ll see that your time is spent being present, happy, and getting on with life. Sure, something still happens, but you deal with it when it does.
If you are below the line, you still have to deal with the event when it happens; but look at all the time spent worrying and keeping your life on hold whilst you anticipate the event. What good has that time spent worrying done? It hasn’t changed the outcome. Worry has just robbed you of the precious time you have to live your life in happiness.
Diagram 2 highlights more clearly why worrying is a waste of time.
In this diagram, the anticipated event doesn’t actually eventuate. So, if you are above the line, you just continue being present, happy and getting on with life.
But if you are below the line, worrying and anticipating an event that didn’t occur, you will have wasted precious time feeling anxious, stressed, upset…. All for no reason at all.
Life dishes up all sorts of events and circumstances and we deal with them when they happen.
Stop worrying about something that may or may not happen. Trust yourself enough to know that if something comes up, you’ll face it and deal with it.
Time is precious.
Focus on today.
Focus on right now.
