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During the past few years, I have seen an increase in anxiety and stress in my patients.

I have tried to develop a diplomatic way of saying this, but I can’t, so here it is. People would be better off caring less about a lot of stuff. Not important things, but a lot of the other things that are just not worth obsessing about.

For instance, I spoke with a lady the other day who was upset about the welfare of homeless animals. I asked her what she was doing about it the problem and how was she helping. I explained to her that her energy should be spent trying to help and make a difference. And if she does that, she needs to understand that there is a lot out of her control and to try and let some of the stress go.

With the constant fear the news and social media put out, I know it is easy to worry about all kinds of things. But please stop and ask yourself, can I do anything about this issue? If so, then do it. If not, then try to not obsess about it.

Worrying about something you cannot change is going to destroy you. Learning to let go of certain things is a great path to being happy and having less stress, and I think we all know how deadly stress is.

Now I am not telling you to not care about anything, but try to evaluate the issue. Find ways to help resolve or lessen the problem, do those things, and move on.

Learning to discern if something really is bad, why you think it is bad, and then resolving the issue to a point where you can let it go is really important.

When you start to worry about something, as yourself: Have I done what I can to fix this issue? Now that I have done what I can, if anything, is further worrying about this and obsessing over it worth trading my health for?

This is a difficult topic, and I spend lots of time when I coach going over this, but it is important to understand. Choosing to let go is not a weakness; it doesn’t make you a bad person. It means you recognize your abilities and do not take responsibility for things outside of your control.