Will I be able to afford it if my car needs repairs? Will my pension lose its value because of Trump? Will the seeds I’ve planted grow? Will my medical check up reveal something dire? Will there be another world war?

Once our minds start down this path, we can find hundreds of things, big and small, to worry about, and get ourselves into a fine old state, trying to work out contingency plans, or just getting more and more anxious. What a waste of energy!

All our worries are about what might happen in the future, yet we all know that the future is unpredictable. All our plans may fall apart, or everything might turn out well, or any mixture if these two extremes. The future is always uncertain.

Yes, we can think things through in advance, and do our best to prepare properly, but we can’t guarantee anything.

All out worrying does is make us anxious and uncomfortable, using up the energy we would need if there were to be something unexpected to deal with. Even if things turn out well, worrying beforehand leaves us in no fit state to really appreciate it.

We’ll never get it all right, have all go according to plan – that’s not how life works – there are too many moving parts, but the unexpected good things happen as well – that’s also how life works.

So let’s stop wasting our energy on worrying about what’s to come, and use it instead to make the most of the present.