85% of What You Worry about Never Happens.
And the news gets even better from there.
“Thank you for all you did for me,” the elderly man said as I discharged him from the hospital.
“You’re welcome,” I said. “It was a pleasure caring for you.”
That wasn’t true. I did like this man, but it had been stressful caring for him. I had missed out on sleep, worrying about all the things that could go wrong. Questioning every little blip in his vitals or lab work as if it was a sign my worst fears were coming true.
In the end, he had recovered as well as a man in his situation could have hoped. None of the things that kept me awake at night ever occurred.
We Worry About Everything.
That is the way it is with most of my patients, I worry about everything that could go wrong, but it rarely does. Yet, I suffer each imagined complication as if it is real. Which got me wondering how many of our worries are justified?
It seems to be the nature of humans to worry. We worry about money, careers, relationships, health, etc. If it is important to you, you can worry about it.
