The future is uncertain, scary, hidden. We wouldn’t be human if we didn’t worry about things at times. We worry about our health, our parents/kids/friends, our relationships, our work and our spending. We worry that we are getting older, fatter, poorer, more tired, less attractive, less fit, less mentally alert, less everything really. We worry about things that matter and things that don’t. Sometimes we worry about not worrying.

Look, it really is OK to worry. Just so long as there is something real to worry about. If there isn’t, then all you’re doing is putting wrinkles in your brow – and that makes you look older you know.

The first step is to decide whether there is something you can do about whatever it is you are worrying about, or not. There are usually logical steps to take to eliminate that worry. I worry that people aren’t taking those steps, which means they are choosing to hang on to their worries rather than be free of them.

If you are worried then:

• get practical advice
• get up-to-date information
• do something, anything, as long as it is constructive.

If you are worrying about your health, go and see a doctor. If you are worrying about money, set a budget and spend wisely. If you are worrying about your weight, go to the gym, eat less, do more. If you are worrying about a lost kitten, phone the vet/police/local animal rescue. If you are worrying about getting older, there is simply no point – it’s happening whether you worry or not.

If there is nothing you can do about your worry (or if you are a persistent worrier, even bordering on the neurotic), then distraction is the only answer. Get absorbed in something else. A man with the rather impressive name of Mikhail Csikszentmihalyi identified something called ‘flow’, where you are so absorbed in a task you are doing, so fully immersed, that you become almost unaware of external events. It’s a pleasurable experience and it completely banishes worry. He also said: ‘The quality of our lives improves immensely when there is at least one other person who is willing to listen to our troubles.’

Worrying may be a symptom that you don’t really want to do something about the problem. It might be easier just to carry on worrying – or look concerned and appear to worry – rather than do something about it. It is OK to worry properly, profitably, usefully. It is not OK to worry pointlessly or needlessly. Or at least, it is OK but it’s a colossal waste of life.