Do any of these questions sound familiar? “Oh no, what am I going to do,” “How do I know what is right for me,” “Will I end up happy?” If so, then you might be suffering from a condition known as “normalcy.” The only bad news is that there is no known cure. But fortunately for you, the reader, almost every person on the face of the planet right now, and I am sure most of the people that came before us, worried about the future. So, you can take an extreme amount of solace in the fact that you are definitely not alone in your worries.
Worrying about what the future holds is just human nature. We have the ability to think about, and plan for, things that are far in the future, and sometimes that gift becomes a curse. We all think about if we are on the right track, whether it is having the right major, dating the right person, having the right job, or whatever you think about specifically, but the healthy planning can become an unhealthy anxiety if dwelt on for too long.
One of the best ways, I think, to help deal with fear of the future is to think of worry as a waste of energy. Now, don’t get me wrong with that. There is a proper time and place for planning and being active in dealing with your future, but I am talking specifically about unnecessary worry about the future. Thinking about worrying as a waste of energy can help you to focus more on the present, instead of every possible scenario that could happen. Time spent worrying about the future, is time spent, and wasted, in the present.
Some of the best advice I have ever gotten about worrying was from a nun that I had never met before. She said that I didn’t need to worry about my future, because I had plenty of time to explore. What was a year going to matter when I could have 60 more later. You don’t need to worry because you have time to figure everything out.
And lastly, one of my favorite remedies for worry is the Bible. If you’re a fan of the Bible, you may have heard Matthew 6:25 before, but I’ll put it here for you.
“For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they? And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life?”
Knowing that even birds are cared for has been one of the best remedies for worry that I have ever encountered.
So I will leave you with this: it’s okay if you do not know what you want to do with the rest of your life. It’s okay if you aren’t dating the right person right now. It’s okay if you don’t have the best job right now. Don’t worry about the future. Just keep working hard and persevere because like Matthew said, nobody will add any time to their life by worrying about the future.
