This Simple Test Can Dramatically Help Reduce Your Anxiety

Sometimes, it can be too easy to get caught up in the daily anxieties of the day.

I can’t go longer than two days without a friend, co-worker, or peer telling me that they have anxiety issues. It seems everybody today is coping with some form of stress that has manifested itself into depression or a compulsion.

We all have our issues and we all have our ways of coping. It’s very easy to get caught up in the little intricacies of life and repeatedly beat ourselves up for the mistakes we make. If you happen to find yourself doing this too frequently, I challenge you to put yourself through the ten year test.

Simply stop and ask yourself, “will this mater in one year, five years, or ten years?”

Chances are, whatever it is you’re stressed out about isn’t actually worth the attention you’re giving it. While you may have accidentally hit “reply all” to the company email and now all your co-workers are peeved by the unnecessary mass email saying you’ll be leaving for Christmas on December 19th, is that really something that will matter after 5pm today? I’m going to go out on a limb here and assume this insignificance will not.

Even something huge, like rejection or financial problems, probably won’t matter beyond the end of the year. Some issues do stay with us and are important, but if you take a moment to stop and breathe, you will realize a lot of your problems don’t matter on a long enough time scale.

Think back to ten years ago. Can you remember the people you were friends with, let along the stupid and embarrassing things they said and did? Do you even care?

Here are a few other things that don’t matter given enough time:

1. That rejection letter (job/romantic/creative – give it what meaning you will).
2. The size of your jeans.
3. That spelling mistake you made in a work email.
4. The shade of red you turned when you bumped into your ex.
5. That disappointing exam result. (Note – Exams never turn out to be as much of a life or death situation as your parents and teachers will try to tell you.)
6. That rude remark from somebody on the subway.
7. The cleanliness of your kitchen (unless it is in need of being cordoned off with yellow tape and declared a hazardous zone – in which case you might not live to see the next 10 years!)
8. Your haircut.
9. Putting red socks in with the white washing.
10. Embarrassing yourself at your works’ Christmas party.
11. Getting burned by your summer fling.
12. Choosing that slice of cake over an apple.

[Featured Image Credit: Holly Austin Smith via WordPress]