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Why can't I stop worrying about the future and everything that can go wrong?

19 Answers
Last Updated: 01/27/2022 at 1:11am
1 Tip to Feel Better
United States
Moderated by

Brenda King, PsyD

Psychologist

I treat life changes, women’s issues, and issues of aging using evidence-based treatments with healthy doses of warmth, empathy and humor to enhance healing and growth.

Top Rated Answers
heyitsTay
July 7th, 2015 12:54am
The thing about the future is that it's just that, the future. We never know anything short of what we can see with our own two eyes. Since there's no positive or negative to dwell on, we focus on the negative in an effort to protect ourselves from failure.
Anonymous
April 29th, 2015 5:53am
My advice is to just try and focus on the present. Think of how you could make your day better and what would make you happier that day. Write down anything that you could do to make you feel better that day and try to accomplish all of those things that you can. Also try and set long term goals for yourself. Things that you want to complete in the next couple of weeks or months. You'll be so distracted on reaching goals that you've set for yourself to make you happy that you won't have time to focus on what could go wrong in your life.
neverletlifetakeyourspark
April 16th, 2015 9:44pm
Because things will go wrong. Bad things will happen. But you will move on. And things will get better. Think of life like a roller coaster. It has it's ups and downs. But will worrying about what will happen help you? Enjoy your roller coaster. Enjoy life. Life's too short to worry about it. Just be happy.
Teagetsme
April 8th, 2015 11:01pm
There is nothing wrong with worrying about the future, I am guilty for this one for sure! Sometimes its a case of us wanting everything to be perfect in life, to go smoothly and be stress free! But unfortunately life isn't as easy and throws obstacles in our way - challenges like this make us worry further about the future because we want to try and make a pre-emptive strike on situations. But we only live once and it can be easier said than done to say to live in the present and enjoy our life in the moment - but this is certainly a statement to consider. If you have experienced many bad things in life, it is normal to be paranoid about it happening again, but you cannot see into the future or what it holds for us - and holding onto the thought of everything going wrong will only cause you distress. With all that said and done, live your life to the fullest and with each experience you gain, you learn and grow. :)
Zenforever2
April 7th, 2015 8:20pm
because we are afraid of what we doing know :) but dont be scared, everything has a way of working itself out. :)
Anonymous
April 24th, 2015 4:29pm
If you believe that everything might go wrong, then it's only natural to worry constantly. Thus, if you want to minimize this, then change your perspective of "everything might go wrong" to "something might go wrong in the future but I'll deal with it only when it happens because as of now, I really don't know if the worst will happen or not"
MusicGirl888
March 5th, 2015 3:18am
Worrying is a fear of uncertainty. The future is the most uncertain thing about our lives! We all want to know that we are going to be successful and have everything we want from life. However worrying about the future robs us of our present joy so we should focus on our present actions because that will lead to a good future.
Anonymous
March 9th, 2015 4:28am
It sounds like you may be having a problem with anxiety. Anxiety can make you worry about simple things such as how you look or what will happen to you in life.
Anonymous
May 17th, 2016 5:31pm
You may be feeling anxious for what is going to come next but that isn't bad, that just means you care about where you are going.
Anonymous
March 6th, 2018 2:37pm
Hope. Because we somewhere inherently believe that things can change and yes they will. But we put too much emphasis in the heroic work we should do in order to save ourselves and the world. Maybe. The world didn't need saving. And we could all do our bit by loving it for what it was. And hey, it's not really the future. It's the past. We are scared that it will play out the same way, and that people won't change and we drive ourselves to it. And the key to understand ourselves lies in our past and how we vision our future is how we want to live our present. Also you might not like my answer cause it's philosophical and won't get what you want. But it's a fact that things that happened , did the way it could. Thinking about it wont change that but maybe change the way you look at it.
JustTom
October 17th, 2016 10:26pm
Live in the present. Screw the hippy connotation. Feel the chair your sitting on, listen to the sound of the refrigerator , smell the rust coming from the roof.... just sit and use your senses... that's living in the present, once you're in that mindset, thinking about the future (and past) is a a lot easier.,
Anonymous
December 30th, 2015 11:45am
We tend to worry more about the future because we don't know what is waiting for us and what is coming
daintydragonflies
June 13th, 2016 9:27pm
Because the future is a scary thing, no one can truly fore tell what will happen and what won't. It's unknown and uncertain
soothingStrawberry61
September 25th, 2017 5:00pm
We live in an instant information society. At any given time we have access to millions of search results from all levels of experts. There is no 'work' to find these answers. When we have to come to terms with uncertainty and do the work to do so it can be very challenging. It has been said that people who can stop worrying live in the future. The key is to reign yourself back in to the moment. Should you plan for the future? YES! Should you over analyze it to the point of missing the present? No. Grounding yourself in this moment, through yoga and meditation will help clear things up about what you want and how you'll get there.
Anonymous
January 5th, 2016 10:50pm
It's normal to worry abput the future, but you should also think about the positive things it will bring and, moreover, about your present
Kat66
December 29th, 2015 4:18pm
uncertainty about everything is something that we as humans do not like hence we fear the future but we should embrace it rather than fear it
MariePier
October 24th, 2016 4:10pm
Because it's scary to focus on the present and not to focus on the future. This is hard. People tend to visualize the future to guide their actions, but its better to focus about what today can bring us, not tomorrow.
courageousSun35
August 28th, 2018 3:10am
Sometimes its the bodies mechanism at defense. We think of all possible outcomes whether good or bad to prepare ourselves with for what could (but most likely would come) It can be hard to stop thinking negatively and about every bad outcome but it is possible. When you begin to think about insane things that might go wrong think to yourself are these things likely to actually happen by personal experience. 9/10 times the worst never happens but we will always think in the worst way possible to prepare. I recommend talking to a councilor or therapist so you can better understand why you do that yourself.
anxietywarrior23
January 27th, 2022 1:11am
It's very hard. We don't know what will happen so we worry but we can live in the present instead of obsessing over what we can't control Live in the moment and don't waste it by worrying. It's not easy or fun because we want control but reality is we never know what's coming next. Our minds are constantly thinking whether we realize it or not. Scary stuff but we will be ok in the end. Hold on for the ride. It may not be fun but it'll be so worth it. Just focus on the present and don't rush.