“There is great beauty in going through life without anxiety or fear. Half our fears are baseless, and the other half discreditable." - Christian Nestell Bovee

Anxiety can be defined as: A vague unpleasant thought or emotion that is experienced in anticipation of some imagined future misfortune.

If the future is unknown (except for God), why do we spend so much time being anxious about things that almost never come true?

Anxiety and worry cause the body to produce stress hormones. Stress hormones cause an immediate physical response. Persistent or sustained stress responses will cause the body to become symptomatic, and can even harm the body, in the long term.

Anxiety and worry cause the body to pay an immediate physical price for things that, for the most part, almost never come true. Is this a good use of our time and energy?

Unproductive worry is like rocking in a rocking chair: We can spend lots of time and energy doing it, but it doesn’t get us anywhere.

It’s wise to plan for the future and to avoid calamity regarding the things we have some control over. However, it’s also wise to stop worrying about things that we have no control over and are highly improbable.

Generally, productive planning will keep us healthy and safe. Unproductive worry will make us sick.