The Fog of Worries

According to the Bureau of Standards, a dense fog covering seven city blocks, 100 feet deep, is composed of something less than one glass of water. In essence, if we were to collect all the fog covering that area and hold it in a single drinking glass, it wouldn't even fill it. This analogy can be applied to our worries. If we could see our problems in their true light, they wouldn’t tend to blind us to the world but instead could be relegated to their true size and place.

As we age, we tend to worry less. With each passing year and the challenges they bring, we learn that many of our worries aren't worth the mental energy we devote to them. However, for younger people, their lives can often feel obscured by the fog of worry.

Here's an authoritative breakdown of what most people worry about:

1. Things that never happen: 40 percent of the things we worry about will never occur anyway.
2. Things over and past that can't be changed by worry: 30 percent.
3. Needless worries about health: 12 percent.
4. Petty, miscellaneous worries: 10 percent.
5. Real, legitimate worries: Only 8 percent of our worries are worth concerning ourselves about. Ninety-two percent are pure fog with no substance at all.

Understanding this breakdown can help us put our worries into perspective. By realizing that the majority of our worries are unfounded or beyond our control, we can learn to manage and cope with them more effectively, allowing us to lead more balanced and fulfilling lives.

Source The Essence of Success by Earl Nightingale.