“I wish I hadn’t worried about my appearance as much as I did.”
Between financial troubles, relationship woes and health scares, there are plenty of worries throughout our lives.
According to the American Psychological Association, about a third of people report that stress feels overwhelming most days.
Some of these concerns are incredibly valid.
Cost of living is absurdly high, health problems (a pandemic, anyone?)
can spark intense anxiety, and conflict can be extremely painful.
However, there are plenty of other scenarios we often ruminate over that arent worth it.
As the old adage goes, most of the things we worry about dont happen.
Heres what they said:
They wish they didnt care what people thought about them.
Jackie Stricker, who is 100 and lives independently atSt.
They themselves dont even know why, so I dont worry about it.
They wish they didnt stress so much about the outcome of situations.
I guarantee you that if you do show up, something will happen that you never expected.
Its never what you expect, he said.
Dont expect what you expect I think is a good aphorism.
They wish they didnt worry about being bored when they retired.
Snyderman-Works co-owned an art gallery in Philadelphia with her husband, Rick Snyderman, for more than 50 years.
Since that time, it seems like the days fly by.
We live in a condo on a street that has so many people that we can socialize with.
So, were not worried anymore about our time, Snyderman-Works added.
That biggest fear has gone away.
They wish they didnt care so much about their appearance.
Was I dressed right?
Did I look OK?
I was very tall and very skinny, and always worried that I felt like a geek.
And I come from a poor family.
We didnt have the money to buy those shoes and that sweater, she said.
As time went on, Goldrich learned that appearance actually wasnt that important, she said.
As long as I was clean and groomed, my appearance didnt matter, Goldrich said.
What really mattered was what I did and I set out to actively redirect my life.
I took myself to law school and began to live my life away from appearances.
They wish they didnt catastrophize about the world ending.
I remember looking out the window for a long time waiting for it to happen.
People now might be worried about political strife, racial tensions or the effects of climate change.
This leads to stress, anxiety and lots of worrying about a situation that youre physically safe from.
They wish people didnt bother worrying about getting back at someone.
Some people … they feel that they need to take revenge.
Youd have to just ignore those things … and youll live longer if you do that.
For some, they didnt worry at all and its served them well.
He also prays when hes worried.
Worrying just creates distraction, he said.
When he does deal with a worry, its quick.
Its a good mantra: Who wants to waste their life worrying about B.S.
?This article originally appeared onHuffPost.
