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If you find yourself weighed down by life worries such as an upcoming job interview, a crucial presentation, a significant test, or a daunting conversation, pause for a moment to contemplate the vast tapestry of existence.

Some 13.8 billion years ago, the universe, as far as we know, was devoid of anything.

However, 13.6 billion years ago, a cosmic expansion occurred, scattering particles across the vast expanse, and stars started to form.

Over the eons, gravity brought matter together to create galaxies, each a cosmic island suspended in the vastness.

Zoom forward to 4.5 billion years ago, and a planet was born from a cloud of gas and dust orbiting a young star.

Fast forward again, and 3.8 billion years ago, life emerged on this planet.

Fast forward even further, and 150 thousand years ago marked the advent of language, abstract thinking, and the dawn of culture.

Today, you are here, in this infinitesimal moment, so tied up with everything you are and everything you do. You think the fate of reality is on your shoulders, but it’s not.

It might feel like the course of your life hinges on the upcoming events, but in the grand scheme, you are just a speck with wonder, emotions, and thought in the cosmos, on a peculiar rock in an unimaginably vast space.

And you’ve let your thoughts absorb all your consciousness and transform it into the mind stuff of worry.

I am a firm believer that our worries and anxieties are often fueled by a distorted understanding of time, a concept that may not truly exist.

Albert Einstein proposed that time is relative, and many thinkers argue that it is an illusion, a mental construct created by the mind.

Think about it: People are sure time exists, but they can’t get a hold of it. They can’t get a hold of it because it isn’t there at all.

Rhonda Byrne, in “The Greatest Secret,” challenges us to consider whether time exists outside of our minds. Every event, past or future, happens in the present moment.

Recognizing this can alleviate the anxiety caused by dwelling on the past or fretting about the future.

If you don’t think your mind creates time, then see if you can find time outside of your mind.

I know… it’s impossible!

When anything happened in the past, it happened in the present moment. When anything happens in the future, it happens in the present moment.

For example, when you woke up today, you didn’t wake up in the past, you woke up in the present moment.

All that exists is the present moment. This might be a hard thing to grasp, especially if this is the first time you are encountering this idea.

But try as you might, you will not be able to find any event or circumstance that happened at any other time than the now; the present moment.

And by the present moment, I don’t mean a moment in time that is sandwiched between past and present.

Rupert Spira, in “The Ashes of Love,” says that the past is made of memory, the future of imagination. Neither has any existence outside the realm of thought.

Time is an illusion; a mental construct created by the mind.

The reason why the concept of time causes anxiety and worry is that it creates anticipation or apprehension about events in an illusionary future, diverting attention from the significant occurrences unfolding in the present, which is timeless and eternal.

As Eckhart Tolle aptly expressed in “The Power of Now,” you can stop this health and life-corroding insanity simply by acknowledging the present moment.

Ask yourself, “What problem do I have in this moment?”, not next year, not tomorrow, or five minutes from now. “What is wrong with this present moment?”

Remember, you can always cope with the now, but you can never cope with the future—as you now know, it’s illusory.

It doesn’t exist—it’s all in your mind.

There’s no point in occupying yourself with the question of whether or not your life will turn out as planned, expected, or desired.

It’s something completely out of your control and only drains your power and energy.

Additionally, you can never be sure what this fate that you fear entails—what is it like when you die? What happens when you lose your job? What happens when your marriage ends, or you never get married?

You assume these happenings are disasters even though they could be blessings in disguise.

The writings of ancient sages persuade us to let go of existing concepts and worldviews and let nature take its course.

For example, Lao Tzu, the mysterious author of the Tao Te Ching, reminds us of how nature takes care of itself—and without interference, everything gets done, much like the universe came into existence without any human interference.

I’ve learned that when you give up control of how things should be and surrender to the present moment, you inadvertently create more happiness and success for yourself.

This is because fully immersing yourself in the present moment releases stuck energy, freeing up your mental space and allowing creativity to abound.

So, have faith that everything will work itself out, because every time you worry and have doubts, you’re like a farmer who plants his crops and now and then uproots them to check whether they are taking root.

Do you see the futility in this?

Doing this is forcing things and interfering with or even going against nature, which only brings about trouble according to the Taoists.

Problems often solve themselves, and life always falls into place eventually regardless of whether we like the outcome or not.

And what seems like lousy luck may be a blessing in disguise, and what we try to accomplish may turn out to be a curse—who knows?

Also, abandon the mindset of waiting.

If you find yourself slipping into this state, break free from it. Embrace the present moment—simply be and relish the experience.

The solutions, strengths, correct actions, or resources you may be anxious about will manifest when you require them—neither before nor after.

Since time is an illusory mental construct and the only true thing is the present moment, here’s what I’ll say: worrying and waiting are a waste of the present moment—stop squandering it.

No matter what you might be worried about, know this: You can spend your whole life worrying about the path to success, but all there ever will be is what happens now.

So, focus on being exceptional in every moment, and let the outcomes naturally fall into place. Your only influence lies in the current moment.

Actionable takeaway:

Carl Sagan once said while referring to the pale blue dot photo of Earth taken by the Voyager 1 space probe, showing Earth from a record distance away:

“On that, everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every superstar and supreme leader, every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there, on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam.”

In light of this, I encourage you to take a moment, gaze at the sky, and contemplate the reality that you are an embodied collection of dead particles on a strange, lushly coated wet rock floating on a vast expanse of energy and matter.

You don’t know why you are here, how any of this works, or where any of it is going—no one does.

But while you’re here, instead of letting your life consume you, zoom out and consider what you truly want to be consumed by.

Because, before you know it, you won’t be here at all—none of us will—so, why worry?

Instead, savor your coffee, express gratitude for the present moment, and whatever you engage in at this very moment, strive to excel in it.

Lastly, as long as you are still here, and the Earth is still orbiting our great star, all is well.