Dear Younger Me, Please Stop Worrying
Dear Younger Me,
If there’s one thing you could do to improve your life where you are right now, it would be to stop worrying.
I don’t mean it in the frustrated, “Ugh! Stop worrying so much!” way. Not at all.
The people who say that to you don’t understand where your worry comes from (hint, it’s your anxiety) and thus their advice and admonitions should be ignored.
I want you to ask yourself a question every time you start worrying about something.
Will it help?
Younger Me, does worrying about anything ever help the situation? Doesn’t God tell us in Luke 12:25 that to worry means we are not putting our full trust in Him?
“And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?” Luke 12:25
This is a question I, as Future You, wish I’d learned to ask at your age. My hindsight is 20/20, though, so I know you’d benefit so much from asking this question whenever that niggle shows up.
Please let go of your worry, Younger Me.
“But,” you cry, “what about the times when something really bad might happen?”
Well, Younger Me, I’m glad you asked.
When you thing something might be going sideways, what you do is this:
1. Plan your response.
2. Rehearse what you’ll do in the moment.
3. Take a deep breath and let it out.
4. Move on unless (or until) the thing happens, in which case you’re prepared.
Not worried.
Being worried doesn’t help.
Being prepared, DOES.
You won’t hear about this guy for a long time, but Tim Ferriss came up with something he calls Fear Setting. He used to be a huge worrier like you, Younger Me.
But Ferriss faced his fears by writing them down, thinking about the worst that could possibly happen, and then what he’d do if the worst came to pass.
More often than not, taking the leaps to do things that scare you will pay off in bigger ways than your worry lets you imagine.
So it’s okay, Younger Me, to think about your fears and WHAT worries you, and prepare for it instead of worrying.
Future You
