#7 Worried Less

As teenagers, we spend a great amount of our time worrying. What did we have for homework? What am I going to wear to the party on Saturday? Will he ever text me back? What did I get on the SAT? When am I going to have time to go to the gym? Should I ask her to the dance? Where am I going to college next year? It's all-consuming. When we think about it, the amount of time we spend worrying could be spent on doing things that are far more productive. We could be doing that homework, picking out that outfit, studying for that SAT, going to that gym, asking her to that dance, and applying to that college. (I can't guarantee he'll text you, but regardless, that shouldn't be a worry.) Why worry? If we take all possible worries seriously, then mentally, we'll never be able to take a risk. I've realized recently that I've spent far too much time worrying about things. When I think about all the time I wasted, I'm saddened because I realize how useless it was. Things will never (well, almost never) happen the way you imagine. When you worry, you're predicting the future, saying "I know things will turn out badly." We could not possibly know how the future is going to turn out, so why worry? Worrying means surrendering your power over your own life. When we worry, we are hindering ourselves of the ability to be proactive. As humans, we can control how we react to situations that arise in our lives, but worrying takes away this ability. Worrying is completely unproductive. Instead, we should be spending our time on something that is actually productive - like going to the gym or doing your homework. Worrying is damaging to both your physical and mental health. And most importantly, worrying is not natural. Do little children worry? No. Do animals worry? No. Do all adults worry? No. There is nothing inherent in being human that means you have to worry. Worrying is a distortion of our natural, healthy state. Mark Twain, arguably the master of quotes, once said, "I am an old man and have known a great many troubles, but most of them never happened." While I can't say that I'm old, I can definitely relate. Most of the troubles I've been through in my life have only happened in my head. I think most teenagers can relate to this as well. Who would've thought we would've ever appreciated Mark Twain so much? In order to combat this useless worrying, I've adopted a certain thought process that has really changed me. Whenever I start to worry about something, I think to myself, "Is this going to matter to me in five years?" And guess what, the answer is usually no. Worrying is using your imagination to create things that you don't want. How could that possibly help us at all? Worrying solves nothing. So stop doing it.