In my opinion, worrying is nothing more than wasted energy. I’ve noticed that people constantly are worrying about tomorrow and feeling guilty about yesterday. Yet, when you think about it, these are the only two things that we can do absolutely nothing about! You can’t control the future nor can you change the past. Why spend time worrying about things that we cannot change?
Reflecting on the past and looking to the future is natural. We have to learn from past mistakes in order to better prepare for future events. The issue is whether or not we allow these natural feelings to consume us, to control our lives, to drain our energy, and thus prevent us from enjoying the present. The future is something that we are constantly afraid of; it is unknown and unpredictable. In college, we worry about midterms, final exams, getting into graduate school and finding careers. Countless hours are spent losing sleep over what may or may not happen tomorrow. Imagine if we took all of that energy and put it into simply preparing for whatever the eventuality may be. More often than not, tomorrow is not as bad as we had predicted.
The same can be said about the past. Regret does not change the past. We need to embrace the past. Instead of looking at past mistakes as failures, look at them as learning experiences, so you can be more successful in the moment.
Any search of the internet will reveal lots of studies on the harmful impact of worrying. Worrying leads to stress, and, excessive stress can lead to both physical and mental ailments. Some people say, “you are what you eat.” I agree more with the observation that, instead, “you are what you think.” What we think about all day long, becomes who and what we are.
We don’t know what tomorrow is going to bring, nor can we control it. Likely, 90% of what we worry about never comes true. 100% of what happened yesterday is never going to change. So why live in the past and the future when you could be living in, and enjoying, the moment? Focus on the things that you do have control over…focus on today.