Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.
Speaker 1: Good Morning, This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.
Speaker 1: Today's tip is about one way to spend less time worrying.
Speaker 1: Recall how many problems your past self worried about that
Speaker 1: are no longer problems. You have solved plenty of challenges
Speaker 1: in your life for at least you have outlived them,
Speaker 1: so most likely you will deal with whatever problem is
Speaker 1: vexing you now. I was thinking the other day of
Speaker 1: the year I spent living in Washington, d C. Right
Speaker 1: after college. I was doing a year long internship, which
Speaker 1: resulted in some pretty cool professional opportunities. In terms of time,
Speaker 1: I had more freedom than I have ever had since.
Speaker 1: I used it to explore the city, go to a
Speaker 1: lot of museums, read through a list of the greatest
Speaker 1: novels of the twentieth century, and so forth. In retrospect,
Speaker 1: that all sounds pretty idyllic. But as I think more
Speaker 1: carefully about it now, I recall that I had plenty
Speaker 1: of angst at the time. For one thing, my take
Speaker 1: home pay was a month and I am not that old.
Speaker 1: So I was thinking about money, or more specifically, my
Speaker 1: lack of it. A lot. I was single at the
Speaker 1: time and went on a lot of dates, but many
Speaker 1: were quite terrible. So it would turn out that I
Speaker 1: would meet my husband a year later, I would find
Speaker 1: ways to earn more money, And if I had known that,
Speaker 1: then my bad dates would have felt more laughably bad
Speaker 1: rather than tragic. My being broke would have felt more
Speaker 1: like a fun adventure rather than a permanent state of affairs.
Speaker 1: I could have enjoyed my free time without worrying about
Speaker 1: what on earth I was going to do with my
Speaker 1: life now. Of course, on some level, I couldn't have
Speaker 1: known those things, But couldn't I have guessed I've always
Speaker 1: been a fairly entrepreneurial person. Other people managed to make money,
Speaker 1: why not me. Lots of people wind up meeting someone
Speaker 1: special at some point. Wouldn't it make sense that someday
Speaker 1: I might too? And maybe that future focused confidence is
Speaker 1: a lot to ask of a year old, But from
Speaker 1: my adult perspective, I can certainly see that my problems
Speaker 1: at the time would eventually not be problems. So perhaps
Speaker 1: I can take that same mindset and apply it to
Speaker 1: whatever worries I am currently experiencing. Maybe you can too.
Speaker 1: In an earlier episode, this week, I suggested people dwell
Speaker 1: in the past and consciously recreate good memories. But of
Speaker 1: course not all of our memories and experiences are positive.
Speaker 1: Some alas keep rearing their ugly heads, often at three am.
Speaker 1: Others we stopped thinking about, but maybe it would be
Speaker 1: helpful to think of them from time to time. So
Speaker 1: go ahead and think about something that was bothering you
Speaker 1: years ago. Choose something that is not actively bothering you anymore.
Speaker 1: What happened, what did you do to solve the problem,
Speaker 1: Even if some of the solution was just the passage
Speaker 1: of time, and how that keeps leading to new invents
Speaker 1: unrolling time is going to keep passing in the future
Speaker 1: regardless of what you do. Maybe you can count on
Speaker 1: it this time around as well. In any case, you
Speaker 1: have solved a lot of past problems. Most likely whatever
Speaker 1: is vexing you now will be solved wable with some
Speaker 1: creativity or time, or just new events that transpire. If
Speaker 1: you can keep repeating that to yourself, maybe you can
Speaker 1: enjoy the now a bit more without worrying about this
Speaker 1: particular issue. You can enjoy your vacation even if you've
Speaker 1: got a big presentation. The Tuesday after you get back.
Speaker 1: You can enjoy a visit with friends, even if the
Speaker 1: travel arrangements home are going to be complicated. You can
Speaker 1: enjoy a project now, even if you're not sure the
Speaker 1: funding is going to be there for your next one.
Speaker 1: This is much harder said than done, of course, but
Speaker 1: you have solved problems in the past. If you think
Speaker 1: about how you have solved things, maybe you will be
Speaker 1: able to convince yourself that you will solve most things
Speaker 1: you are dealing with now too, or at least you
Speaker 1: can try to convince yourself of that. Even reducing anxiety
Speaker 1: a little bit can help a lot. In the meantime.
Speaker 1: This is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's to making
Speaker 1: the moose of our top. Hey everybody, I'd love to
Speaker 1: hear from you. You can send me your tips, your questions,
Speaker 1: or anything else. Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook,
Speaker 1: and Instagram at Before Breakfast Pod that's b the number
Speaker 1: four then Breakfast p o D. You can also shoot
Speaker 1: me an email at Before Breakfast podcast at i heeart
Speaker 1: media dot com that Before Breakfast is spelled out with
Speaker 1: all the letters. Thanks so much, I look forward to
Speaker 1: staying in touch. Before Breakfast is a production of I
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