Member-only story

Moment-by-moment Awareness is How I Stop Worrying

Be here now” is doing wonders for my mind.

Thomas Oppong
4 min readOct 26, 2024
Photo by Warren on Unsplash

The last time I spent a lot of time in my head about an experience I dreaded, I wasted the day and ended up with a headache. I gained nothing and made no difference to my future or past. In fact what I feared most never happened.

All the worst-case scenarios I kept playing in head didn’t happen. The product of my imagination ruined my ability to enjoy the day. “I’ve had a lot of worries in my life, most of which never happened,” writer Mark Twain said. Worrying is exhausting.

You know it, and I know it.

Our minds wander into the future, imagining every possible problem. We play out scenarios, obsess over outcomes, and hold onto every “what if.” Worry tricks us into thinking it’s helping.

But in reality, it’s keeping us stuck in a mental loop.

We keep trying to “figure it out.”

Life is mostly about being, not just doing. But we rarely allow ourselves to just be. We’re too busy overthinking, analysing and judging. We obsess over purpose, over making every decision “right.”

I’ve learned that the antidote to worry isn’t solving every problem or getting ahead of myself. It’s not predicting the future.

--

--

Thomas Oppong
Thomas Oppong

Written by Thomas Oppong

Making the wisdom of great thinkers instantly accessible. As seen on Forbes, Inc. and Business Insider. For my popular essays, go here: https://thomasoppong.com

Responses (2)