To think there are just too many things to worry about

[ritalinda]

Am I the only one who frequently feels overwhelmed by the number of serious things to worry about?

I'm not actually a very anxious person and I don't honestly dwell on things much but it just seems too much nowadays.

Climate change (I mean, this is the big one)
Covid/variants/another pandemic
War Russia/Ukraine
Money - esp with energy bills increasing
Day to day worries about work, parenting etc
Getting older:
Individual worries eg I'm waiting for results of health tests
Parental illness
General loom of death
Young children - various worries about their future

I could go on obviously... I know this sounds woe is me and I don't mean that I just feel like wow, it's a lot.

@Kazzyhoward

Learn to only worry about things within your control.

Change the things you can and ignore the things you can't.

But this is MN, if they weren't worrying many people here would worry about what they're missing! It seems that the more one purports to worry about 'issues' the better one considers oneself to be!

So many worries, it's starting to take over my life.

I agree @ritalinda

You forgot the housing crisis OP, and the fact that a home is totally unaffordable for most young people.

Yes I frequently feel like this and I remind myself that I’m standing on a spinning rock in the middle of space and that puts everything into perspective and I realise I can’t waste the miracle of my life worrying about things out of my control.

Yes, I do feel this increasingly.

I came across an Instagram account the other day that is all about women tailoring their exercise schedule according to their menstrual cycle to get the best benefits (eg, doing weights, cardio at different times of the month). It's obviously supposed to be a helpful think but my first overwhelming thought was 'Christ on a bike, its now not enough that I am trying to actually do some exercise, I need to make sure I'm doing the right sort of exercise on a particular day?

There is just too much information out there now about 'life' I'm not actually sure if, as humans, we are designed to be able to deal with it?

There' s a lovely saying OP,
" This my dear is the greatest challenge of being alive,
To witness the injustice of the world and not allow it to consume our light."

I don't think it's a coincidence that worries have increased in the last few years, it's directly linked to enduring 12 years of austerity and Conservative governments. They have offered no hope or investment to their people, only cuts and fear.

Me too

I am actually dreading getting any older because I know it'll be even more shit by then and it's not that far off.
I worry that I'll be my dh's carer and I will resent him for it ; I know that sounds terrible as I do love him , but being a carer is my worst nightmare to be honest, but I would do it for him. (I'm not sure he would , or could , do it for me though :(
I worry about my children and the state of the world at the moment, higher prices for everything. It is constant , but you have to put it on the back burner and just live day by day.

@Hasselhoffsheadband 🤣 so true

@Moonface123 lovely saying

@GreenNewDealNow

I don't think it's a coincidence that worries have increased in the last few years, it's directly linked to enduring 12 years of austerity and Conservative governments. They have offered no hope or investment to their people, only cuts and fear.

I agree, it's not a coincidence. And I saw a study in the news today about young peoples happiness being at a 12 year low too 😕

Me too OP. My list is very similar to yours. I feel overwhelmed and panic-y at times. I'm at my limit.

And now how worried should we be about the war situation??

I'm EXHAUSTED. It's like we never get a break, one bad thing after another. My anxiety is through the roof and the only time I can switch it off is when I'm in the cinema. So I go almost every day to get 2-3 hours of mental break. I don't know how long I can live like that.

It is relentless isn't it. And then trying to model resilience/happiness to teenagers to make them think its worth becoming an adult!

There are lots of good and lovely things about the world though OP. Everyone who has posted a nice reply demonstrates this

There have always been things to worry about, though. Even just in my lifetime, it could have been being blown up by the IRA or the state of the Cold War, when we thought constantly about nuclear annihilation. Far more discrimination & prejudice in the 1970s and 80s than now. My mortgage rate being 15%, to be a bit more personal. Not to mention previous generations & centuries which had wars, disease and poverty on a much worse scale than anything we see today.
Frankly, in spite of everything, people in the West generally have good lives these days.
The point is also well-made above that there is no point in worrying about things outside our control - it is such a waste of energy.

Yes I feel a lot like this at the moment. I have always been pretty anxious 😥. I keep waking up with this impending sense that something bad is going to happen. It's more to do with living abroad away from family for me not being able to get back there quickly If something happens. But I do feel a bit like the world has gone mad 🙈

Oh I hear you. How I hear you. My DC have not done well in the pandemic and I worry about them constantly, along with increased costs, climate change, work, illness... I do realise most of these are outside my control, but it' doesn't stop me worrying at 2 am. Things that help are walking/exercise and frequent naps if I can manage. Or a really great thriller. But I would say that my normal state is worry, and my default state is not to worry. It's no life.

Yes you're right Op
Perhaps we are not designed to carry all this worry

But the thing is, it's a good sign. The very essence of first world problems. If you were really in trouble you'd have only one worry...survival.

There are many things that are out of our control - wars and such. I purposely never watch the news on tv, it's so depressing. I look at some of the news online, dip in and out of it.

I try to sort out problems I've got some level of control over - family, pets, health, money. No parents now, my kids are adults but I still worry if they're unhappy or having problems. I think it's a matter of choosing not to get bogged down by the bigger problems - our world leaders can deal with all that.