Back to the deck
Body & Mind6/8#46 / 57

Twenty years worrying about nothing

Foundation Regret·All ages

At sixty-five she still has sleepless nights. In her forties she worried her child would get hurt; in her fifties that her husband would be laid off; in her sixties about hospital bills. Most of it never happened. What did happen looked nothing like the worry. One of the Cornell elders' most common regrets was exactly this: the time wasted worrying about things that never happened. Worry isn't preparation for the future. It's a tax on today.

Time spent worrying is time wasted… One of the major regrets expressed by the elders was time wasted worrying about things that never happened.

— Karl Pillemer, Cornell gerontologist

TODAY’S PRACTICE

Write down one worry and one line: if it happens, what will I do?

#WorryLess#OneLinePlan#Today

SOURCE

Karl Pillemer, 30 Lessons for Living · Cornell Legacy Project

Read the original