Worry

You can do it. Just keep in mind it’s not going to help. The sooner you learn that the more time and anxiety you’ll save yourself. There’s no shortage of things in life that can cause you to worry. Some of it is worth it. Most of it isn’t. Some of if you can control. Most of it you can’t. One thing is for certain and that’s worrying never did anyone much good at all.

I’m not telling you to be some sort of psycho or robot and not give a damn about anything. Being human means that you will worry. Being a parent makes it even worse. That’s just a heads up for you in the future. However, one thing I have learned over time is that the kinds of things that cause you to fret fall into a couple of different categories.

The first is a whole mess of things that you simply can’t control. There is no sense in worrying if it’s going to rain, for example. Maybe you shouldn’t have planned your wedding outside in April but in the end, that’s on you. There are plenty of circumstances that you can’t change no matter what you do. Like rain. It’s going to happen, or not happen, and there’s not a damn thing that you can do about it. Worry all you want but it’s just wasted effort and lost sleep.

The second group is stuff that you can have some say in. The worrying usually comes from not being prepared enough. You can sweat about whether or not you have enough money for retirement, but did you save like you should have? That is certainly worth worrying about. It’s also almost one hundred percent under your control. So if you’re lying awake in the middle of the night trying to do retirement math I guess a lot of that is on you. Take the time to figure it out, use the tools you have at hand or ask for advice from people who know and you’ll get a lot more sleep.

Finally, there are plenty of items you’ll worry over that aren’t worth your time. In fact, worrying about stuff like this may just rob you of the best times of your life. Let’s say for example, that some day you like a girl. Don’t roll your eyes at me. I’m being serious. Anyway, you like this girl and you want to tell her but you worry you’ll look foolish, she’ll say she doesn’t like you or your friends will laugh. Or maybe all of that would happen. Then you’ll feel stupid and embarrassed and the world will end right then and there. Here’s the thing: none of that is worth worrying about. Despite your best efforts you will look foolish or stupid at times in your life. Your friends will laugh. Sometimes you’ll deserve it. And whether or not you want to believe it you may like a girl someday that doesn’t like you back. Hey, I said stop rolling your eyes at me. In the end, it’s dumb to worry about any of that. Worse yet, it may cause you to not do anything fun or adventurous. You’ll limit yourself or have less excitement in your life because you’re afraid of looking bad. You’ll look bad. Get used to it. And keep in mind you’re here because a guy got up the nerve to talk to a girl he liked. Kind of puts it in perspective for ya, huh? Dad isn’t so dumb after all.

There’s plenty in life to fret over. Most of it is dumb and not worth the energy or brainpower you’ll spend on it. It’s illogical and doesn’t solve a thing. That doesn’t mean you won’t worry that an asteroid will smash into the earth tomorrow. You can’t avoid worry. It’s part of the human condition. Just understand that you can’t let it rule you. But big rocks falling from the sky not only are unlikely, but they also shouldn’t stop you from living your life. Don’t freak out over the weather. Dress for it and get out of the house. Life is short. Don’t spend it worrying.