So many of us lie awake at night worrying about the future – a future that is yet and may never happen – making ourselves tired, stressed, and frequently depressed. It makes absolutely no sense for us to do this to ourselves, but nearly everyone does it at some point, and it can be terrible for mental and physical health.
If you’re someone who is always worrying about things that have yet to happen, and you would like to get some respite from it and improve your physical and mental health, here are a few things that could help you to live more in the now, stop worrying and find more peace in your life.
Start a mindfulness practice
Perhaps, the best way to stop worrying so much about the future is to learn how to truly live in the moment. Mindfulness meditation is the best way to learn how to do this because it teaches you to focus on what you can see, hear, feel, touch and taste right now; it helps you to watch your thoughts float by without engaging in them; it has been scientifically proven to change your brain and help to relieve, stress, anxiety, and depression. It is also very easy to learn, so give it a go and you are sure to see an improvement in your constant rumination.
Take action
The future is often unknown, so it’s not always possible to take action now to plan for the future, but you can sometimes tackle the things you are worried about for your future now. For example, if you’re worried about what will happen to your family when you are gone, you can state estate planning now, or if you stay up at night thinking about how you’ll cope when you retire, you can start investing in a good pension plan as soon as possible – if you take action on those worries you can mitigate against now, you will have greater peace of mind in the present and less to worry about for the future, which will help you get a better night’s sleep every night.
Start a gratitude journal
It’s strange, but when you focus on the good things you have in life right now, you naturally start to worry less about those unknown things that could go wrong in the future. One of the best ways to start focusing on the good in your life is by writing them down in a gratitude journal. Once you have done this every day for a while, your brain naturally starts to look for the positive instead of dwelling on the negative and your whole life can be totally transformed.
Try CBT
Cognitive behavioral therapy helps you to look at and challenge your thoughts so that you stop catastrophizing and start to see a clearer, more realistic picture of life and all its imperfections. It is often used for depression and anxiety but it can be very effective at putting a stop to rumination over the future too.
Whatever will be will be, so why stress about it now?