7 Reasons Not to Worry about the Future ...

Of all the reasons not to worry about the future, one of the most important must be that it might not even happen. Are you one of those people who is always saying "What if …"? The chances are that the "if" never becomes reality. Yet we allow these anxieties to take over, and don't realise that they've never actually happened. Stop wasting your energy on things that may never happen.

It's pretty certain though that you will experience problems and difficulties in life. Nobody has a smooth ride, even if some people do seem to have it easy. And even when things go wrong, we do manage to cope. Somehow we muddle through. So don't underestimate your own ability to deal with difficult issues and times in your life. You'll come through it.

Even if you have good reason to worry about the future, knowing that problems are coming up does serve one very good purpose. You have plenty of time to do something about them. So use that time wisely and instead of worrying, do something constructive. Do what you can to alleviate the problems and reduce or eliminate their effect on you.

The problem with worrying is that you worry so much you end up doing nothing. This may even bring about the very thing that you've been worrying about! Or you may even end up in a worse situation because worrying has caused you to make the wrong decision. Fretting can be completely counterproductive, so don't let it take over.

Do you remember what you used to worry about years ago? The chances are that you don't even recall what bothered you ten or twenty years ago. Look back, and you'll realise that those concerns are no longer relevant. Think of how much certain things mattered in your teenage years. Now you couldn't care less about them. Our priorities change quite a lot over time.

Spending so much time worrying about the future is a waste. Living in the present allows you to enjoy your life instead of thinking about things that may never happen. Have you ever heard the saying 'the present is a gift'? This play on words has a very sound message - so focus on now and making the most of your life as you live it.

Life brings many challenges, so we need to be able to adapt. Worrying about what may happen means that you are less well equipped to confront problems when they do happen. Your life may take a course that you hadn't expected. We can't always control the situations that we have to deal with, so adopt a flexible attitude and learn to adapt accordingly.

While it's smart to be aware of potential problems and challenges, there comes a point at which awareness starts to transform into worry. Worrying gets you nowhere fast and is a waste of your energy. Are you a worrier, and have you ever found that it's made things worse?