7 Ways to Stop Worrying About the Future
The only thing you really need to concern yourself with is the present moment. Worrying about the future drains your energy, creates stress and anxiety, and pulls you out of the all-important connection you have with yourself and others around you. Luckily, there are many ways to quiet your mind, find peace in the present moment, and stop worrying about what’s coming next. Here are 7 ways to stop worrying about the future so you can focus on what matters most right now.
1) Start off Right with Connection
If you start your day with meditation, or even just a few minutes of intentional connection with yourself, you set yourself up for an experience that’s grounded in presence. Think about it—the more connection you have with yourself right now, in present time, while trusting divine order for your future, the more peace and joy you’ll experience on earth. And remember: Life is what happens while we are making other plans (John Lennon).
2) Meditate Before Going to Sleep
Meditation is a simple practice that can help quiet your mind so you fall asleep more easily. It takes only 10 minutes, and is an excellent way to begin training yourself to focus on being present in your life. Practice each of these steps for 7-10 days before moving on to another one.
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3) Be Present in the Moment
Everyone has worries about what’s coming next in their lives: we worry about work, school, relationships, and money. By focusing on all that we don’t know and can’t control—and thinking in terms of long-term goals instead of immediate problems—we set ourselves up for disappointment. Instead, try living in each moment as if it was your last; when you stop worrying about what could happen and focus on what is happening right now, you start realizing how wonderful life really is.
4) Honor Your Feelings
When we’re feeling stressed or anxious, we often find ourselves trying to find a way out of those feelings. We convince ourselves that we just need more information, or that if we put in enough work, somehow things will magically feel better. But they won’t. As your meditation practice grows and you learn how to become present with your feelings as they arise, you can begin honoring those emotions as they come up—rather than frantically searching for a solution or outcome.
5) Keep an Open Mind
You can’t change what you don’t accept. And when it comes to living in presence, you might be surprised at how many things you can simply let go of because they no longer serve you. Be open-minded about your life and where it takes you today—you may just find that most of what is stressing or worrying you has no place in your new, mindful existence. If not, remind yourself that everything happens for a reason—so maybe there are lessons here for both pain and pleasure.
6) Take Action Without Expectation
People worry about what’s going to happen next because they don’t know how they will react when faced with a new challenge. In order to let go of worry, we must remove our expectations from life and take action without being attached to any particular outcome. The best way of doing that is by practicing mindfulness—living in present moment awareness while trusting in divine order. Through deep presence and meditation, you can cultivate a healthy spiritual relationship with uncertainty.
7) Listen to What Spirit Has To Say
If you’re anything like me, whenever something out of your control comes up you can’t help but immediately start worrying about what that means for your future. When we let go of control and open ourselves up to divine order, we open ourselves up to pure love and grace. We may not always know what tomorrow holds, but we can be assured whatever it is will be exactly what we need—and there’s a lot of freedom in that knowledge.
