How to Stop Worrying and Start Living(English)
Introduction
What are the things you worry about right now?
Whatever they are, your worries are keeping you from living. They are keeping you from being with your loved ones. They are keeping you from happiness and success. Do you want to spend your life worrying? Would you rather spend your life living?
In this book, you will find effective ways to get rid of your worries. Do you often worry about the past? Do you often worry about the future? Sometimes, people worry so much that they forget about the present. Do you think you are getting the most out of life?
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Seize the Day
One spring day, there was a young medical student worrying about his future. Will he pass his final exams? Where would he go after school? How would he begin his career? The young medical student was reading a book when he found 21 words that inspired him.
That young man came to be the most successful doctor of his generation. He led the famous John Hopkins medical school. He became a respected professor at Oxford University. He even became a knight of England. That young man was Sir William Osier.
The 21 words that Sir William read were, “Our main business is not to see what lies dimly at a distance, but to do what lies clearly at hand.” It means to focus on the task that we have right now instead of worrying about the future.
Sir William made a speech at Yale University. He encouraged the students to live in day-tight compartments. Imagine that you can lock the doors of your past. You can also shut the doors of your future. What you have left is today.
Day-tight compartments mean to live one day at a time. Allow yourself to think about what you have to do at that very moment. Do not wander off to the past or the future.
Sir William did not intend for people to stop preparing for the future. However, he did want them to turn all energy on today’s tasks. Do your best. Give it all you’ve got. By doing so, you will surely have a good future.
“One grain of sand at a time, one task at a time” We are standing in the middle of our past and future. The past is a long history. The future is vast. We cannot live in all those possible times. It is a burden to dwell in the past and the future. The only time we can live in is today.
Many people get sick because they worry too much. They suffer nervous breakdowns or extreme body pain. What we must do is think of tasks we have to do for today. That is, from the moment we wake up just until the time we sleep. The next morning, we should start fresh.
Why is it in our nature to disregard the present? We always dream about a better future that we do not appreciate the beautiful things happening to us today.
When we were children, we dreamt about the time when we would grow up. When we are older, we dream of getting married. When we are married, we dream about retirement. When that day comes, we will realize how much we have lost. “Life, we learn too late, is in the living, in the tissue of every day and hour.”
The old Roman saying, “Carpe Diem” means “Seize the day.” Wherever you are in your life right now, enjoy it. Live in it. Appreciate everything. Do not worry about the past or the future. Focus on what you must do in the present.
The past will only burden you. Whatever regrets, whatever bad memories you have, put them all behind you. “The past is over and done with.” As for the future, there are many things that could happen. It will not help you to worry. Where are you right at this moment? Try to appreciate your life as it is right now.
Live one day at a time. Focus on your 24 hours. Make sure that you have spent your 24 hours in the best way that you can. Will you spend your 24 hours worrying? Will you use it to appreciate your career, your loved ones, and all the good things that you have right now?
You will see that you get more out of life by taking it one day at a time. You can enjoy the moment, and you can focus on your task. As Sir William said, “I owe whatever success I have had to the power of settling down to the day's work and trying to do it well, to the best of my ability, and letting the future take care of itself.
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I Learned to Stop Worrying by Watching my Wife Wash Dishes
Reverend William Wood suffered from intense stomach pains. He would often wake up at night because he could not bear the pain. His father died from stomach cancer. Reverend Wood was extremely worried that he also had the same disease.
Reverend Wood went to the hospital to get examined. He was treated by a specialist. The doctor said his stomach X-ray results were clear. He prescribed medicines to help the reverend get some sleep. The doctor told him emotional stress was causing his stomach pain.
The reverend was always busy. He was always pressured to finish his tasks. As a result, he could not relax. The reverend always felt hurried, tense, and anxious. His mind thought about a lot of things at the same time. Reverend Wood followed his doctor’s advice. He let go of some of his responsibilities. He began to rest every Monday.
The reverend was clearing up his desk one day. He found notes and other pieces of paper that were not important anymore. One by one, the reverend tossed them in his trash can. Suddenly, the reverend had an idea. He could also crumple and throw away the problems he had yesterday.
There was no use carrying the burdens of the past. It was better to crumple and toss them away like old notes. At another time, Reverend Wood saw his wife singing while washing the dishes. The reverend told himself, “Look, Bill, how happy your wife is. We have been married eighteen years, and she has been washing dishes all that time.”
The reverend thought that if his wife had worried about all the dishes she would have to wash through those years, she would not have agreed to marry him. Reverend William Wood realized that his wife did not mind because she only washed the dishes used that day. She did not worry about the dishes she needed to wash tomorrow. She did not think about the dishes she had cleaned yesterday.
The reason the reverend got sick was that he was trying to accomplish everything at once. He was trying to do everything at the same time. He was trying to “wash today's dishes, yesterday's dishes, and dishes that weren't even dirty yet.”
Reverend William Wood realized that he was terribly wrong. He always preached to people the right way to live, but he himself could not do it. Reverend Wood changed his routine. He slept better and was cured of his stomach pains.
Remember to take one day at a time. If you carry a load of yesterday, today, and tomorrow all at once, your mind and body will suffer. Forget the past. If you work hard in the present, you don’t have to worry about your future.