Start living in “Day-tight Compartments”

Lessons learned while reading the first chapter of Dale Carnegie’s book — How to stop worrying and start living.

“Those who don’t learn to fight worry, die young.” — Alexis Carrel

I don’t know about you but I am in a constant state of worry all the time. I worry about the big things such as losing my job, or money, or making a mistake that will affect the rest of my life. I worry about the small things, like what if I burn dinner, or whether I’ll be late. I worry about the past, I worry about the future, I worry constantly about things that are very unlikely to happen.

I don’t know why I worry all the time, it’s just something I have done for as far back as I can remember. I know it’s not healthy and it is doing me no good, but it is just something that I do. Living with anxiety and stress can suck all the joy out of you which is why I first picked up the book “How to stop worrying and start living”.

After finishing the first chapter I discovered I already knew a lot of the things he had talked about. Most of it is common sense but in saying that, I still forget the lessons all the time. Reading them helped bring them to the forefront of my mind again and hopefully writing them down and sharing them with others might help cement them in my brain.

The first chapter is titled “Live in Day-tight Compartments”. So how do we go about living in these “Day-tight compartments”?

Let the past die

“You can’t start the next chapter of your life if you keep re-reading the last one.” — unknown

The past is dead, let it remain that way. Even though sometimes life doesn’t seem like it’s very short, it really is. We only have so much time on this planet and the more time you spend dwelling on the past is less time you get to spend living your life in the present.

Learn from the lessons of the past and then move on. What if’s and should haves are not going to do anything for you other than create more anxiety in your life. You have no idea how something might have turned out if you had taken a different path, so stop worrying about it.

Emotions might be a big reason while you’re holding onto the past. Don’t ignore these, own them. Have a cry, scream loudly, throw your toys, and then let it all go. You need to in order to live a happy life.

Fear might be another reason you keep bringing up the past. Fear of moving forward or fear of making the same mistakes. However, if you know the mistakes you have made, then you can learn from them and move on. You may make another mistake, and if you do then learn from that also, and then keep moving forward.

The past is important as it makes us who we are today but don’t let it be the only driving factor of who you become in the future.

Get your mind out of the future

“The future depends on what we do in the present.” — Mahatma Gandhi

The world has been a messed up place lately and unsurprisingly this has caused a lot of worry about the future among many people. I know for me I have been worried about my job. I have all my eggs in one basket, so if I lose my job then what. However, I don’t know if I will lose my job, and it’s actually highly unlikely, so there is no point worrying about it. Instead of worrying about what might happen, put that brainpower towards something constructive like figuring out ways to ensure you won’t be stuck if you did lose your job.

Too often we worry about things and that is all we do. The easiest way to ensure that all your worries about what might go wrong in the future come true is by constantly thinking about these worries and not doing anything about them.

Not only are we always worrying about the future but we are often dreaming about the future too. Why is this? Is it because we perceive that our lives aren’t currently good enough? It’s good to have goals/dreams and I’m not saying that you should totally block out any thought of the future; what I am saying is prepare for the future by doing things in the present.

Live life today

“Live the actual moment. Only this moment is life.” — Thich Nhat Hanh

Learning to live in the present moment helps reduce the effects of worry, anxiety, and fear of the unknown, bringing more calm and enjoyment into your life.

Each day, wake up and think about what you are going to do that day. Don’t worry about what tomorrow will bring and don’t give yesterday’s problems any thought. Today is all that matters. Whatever you do today is what will make you the person you will become tomorrow.

Final words

Living within “Day-tight Compartments” can help eliminate worry and stress from our lives. There is no point worrying about what happened yesterday as there is nothing we can do to change that. Learn from the past and move on. We don’t know what tomorrow will hold so no point worrying about that either. Planning and preparing for our future is good but we shouldn’t worry about things that we have no proof will happen. Instead, we should live today fully. Giving it all our attention. To be the best version of yourself tomorrow, be the best version of yourself today.