Let's face it, we're a nation of worriers. We worry all day, all the time, 24/7. But how much of a more chilled life would we have if we didn't worry so much?
IMAGINE...
To try and make it so you don't worry (and you do get that chilled life you deserve) read below a list of common worries, and why you shouldn't worry about them...
Your weight
Don't eat junk food 24/7 and make sure you do something active every day. If you do that, you're the weight Mother Nature intended you to be. And who are you to argue with her?
Did I offend that person when I said...
Chances are, you didn't. And if you did, you didn't mean to. So stop being so hard on yourself.
If all my socks aren't in order/I eat an odd number of crisps/I walk under a ladder... something bad will happen
Bad things happen to everyone anyway. There is nothing you can do to stop them. And no superstition can save you from them either. All rubbish.
Not having a significant other
It's hard to console someone with 'it will happen' because that always seems so unlikely when you're perpetually single.
The best thing to do is make a plan; a 'what I will do if I never meet anyone most amazing ever' plan. Then if it transpires you don't meet anyone EVER, you will still have lots to look forward to...
(But trust us, you will meet someone.)
What your mother thinks
Your mum loves you an indescribable amount. But she's got a whole lot of things she didn't do right in her life, and mostly, she just wants to make sure you do them right in your life.
What you do, of course, is your decision.
How drunk you were
If you're worried about it, you probably weren't as drunk as you think. And if you were that drunk, well, lots of people have been there...
Tell yourself: 'Yes, I was drunk and I did that stupid thing I shouldn't have done. But LOTS OF PEOPLE DO THIS. I am not alone in my post-night-out paranoia. If I learn from that thing I did, chances are I won't do it again.'
Remember: nobody is perfect (and besides, who'd want to be anyway?).
Not earning as much as your friends
Does anyone ever say they earn enough? There will always be someone richer than you – fact of life. Accept that you do the best you can – and what more can you ask of yourself?
Do I have lipstick on my chin / bad breath / spot on my nose?
Having these worries makes us more cautious in general – i.e. covering our mouths when we talk or touching our chins as we sit at our desk to cover up that imaginary zit.
Rest assured that if you do have any of these things, you're doing a really good job of hiding it already. (And no one will notice anyway.)
Will I ever buy a house?
We can't answer this. But what we can get you to think about instead, is how to rephrase the question to be something more like: will I ever build a home?
Because the answer to that is yes. We know this to be true, because you can build a home anywhere.
Did I leave my hair straighteners on?
Most likely, you turned them off. You probably also double-locked the door and turned the tap off too.
Mindfully check once when you leave the house as part of your 'exit' routine, and then forget about it.
I don't have enough followers on social media/my pic didn't get that many likes
Remember the time BEFORE social media? Well, there was one, and you had friends then – rather like you have friends now. Only in those days, you didn't need a social media site to validate this, because you could see it – in the people who'd come to you for advice; the people who'd call you up to chat for hours on the landline; the people who'd genuinely share their last Rolo with you...
How many likes you get, or how many followers you have, is in no way indicative of how popular you are as a person. Because even the most popular person alive can only ever have a handful of really good friends – and no amount of 'likes' from relative/actual strangers will change that.