10 Ways To Waste Your Life Worrying Instead Of LIVING

It's very important if you're a worrier to make sure you're worrying about anything and everything that can happen.

In fact, I'm pretty sure you don't need to double check 1,000 times if you've worried enough today, because if you're an anxious person, worrying comes naturally to you — and you do it with flair!

Why "keep calm" when instead, you can waste seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, and then some worrying and preparing for the worst-case scenario? Doesn't the latter sound so thrilling?

1. You put off fun activities.

Instead of going to that party, taking that interesting job interview, or meeting up with that guy your friend told you about, you decided to worry yourself until you were convinced that somehow everything would be god awful. After one hour of obsessively worrying, you determined that this most certainly would be a disaster, and it'd be better for you to just stay home.

Another opportunity at life, love, or a dream was wasted because you gave your worry "the keys to the car" and let it go for a spin.

2. You log over 100 hours in the past week on WebMD.

Today you saw a spot in your throat and it was, at the very least, a distant cousin of cancer. Of course, you laughed that off and told yourself you were being crazy. But then you let the crazy take over and spent a dozen or more hours on WebMD deciding whether to call the doctor.

After you went with either Plan A) see doctor, or Plan B) try to calm down, you realized you wasted hours of your life worrying about this spot, and now your stomach hurts. It sucks but it's almost impossible to stop the panic and worry.

3. You role-play a potential first date 5,000 times with every friend you know.

Then you show up to the date and don't say one word, or ramble on so quickly that your date thinks you snort cocaine. The reality is you're pretty awesome and your date wanted to like you. If only you hadn't let worry show up to dinner instead of you.

4. You think you can predict how every situation will play out.

You're not Miss Cleo, but you think you are. You're absolutely positively sure that the worst-case scenario is going to happen. You just know it! Why? Because your anxiety told you that you were right.

Your fortune telling skills keep you from taking chances. Or, you make the worst-case scenario come true — all thanks to your crazy superpower: worry.

5. You purposely avoid social gatherings.

You're skipping that HUGE social gathering because you'll have to interact with people, and once you realize that you're attending said huge social gathering, a few hours later you find yourself at Panera Bread having a panic attack. You can't understand why the mac and cheese would cause your chest to tighten along with your throat, but it's all hinged upon that huge social gathering you're avoiding.

6. You constantly convince yourself nothing will work out.

Yes, you're absolutely certain, because anxiety checked in with you and confirmed that nothing is going to work out, so why bother? Rather, waste your life knowing that the negative is correct and the positive is wrong.

7­. You never venture out of your comfort zone.

You'll stick to your comfort zone. The people you know. The job you've been doing since the dinosaurs existed. You'll stay in that relationship that sucks but is familiar.

Why? Because taking a chance fills you with doom so you'd rather be familiarly miserable than potentially happy, because you know that happiness is impossible. Right?

8. You stay at your sh*tty job because it's "easy."

You've had a dream since you were teeny-tiny, but you never actually followed through on achieving it because you were sure it wouldn't work out ... before it even started up. Nah, you'd rather waste your time doing some crap job or living in some city you don't really love because, well, it's easier on your nerves.

9. Your anxiety makes you physically ill.

Anxiety can make you sick — not in your imagination, but in reality. So, you miss out on that girls' night or a date because you're actually sick, except either anxiety caused your sickness, or you got sick and anxiety made it worse.

10. You are just too damn tired.

You're too tired to do X, Y, or Z because you stayed awake worrying. This meant you went to work, that interview, that date, your child's school, your in-laws' home, or practically anywhere running on zero.

You didn't enjoy yourself or participate because your worry had an orgy in your mind last night and reproduced so much that sleep was out of the question. Why should you get a good night's rest when you could spend the night prattling on in your brain about your worst fears?

Me? I'm the victim of most of these, and you know what? It sucks. I've given worry the keys to the car way too often when the fact is that worry is an unforgivable and obnoxious tween that needs to stay locked in its room for eternity.

Don't give up your life or the good fight against anxiety. I'm proud to say that despite my anxiety, I go forward, full-speed ahead. I know it's not easy for many people, but you've got to take back the wheel and live your damn life to the fullest.