Here's a thing about the death of your mother, or anyone else you love: You can't anticipate how you'll feel afterward. People will tell you; a few may be close to right, none exactly right.
Mary SchmichRead
Don't worry about the future. Or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubble gum. The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind, the kind that blindside you at 4 p.m. on some idle Tuesday.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Worrying about the future is unproductive and often focuses on imaginary problems.
Mary Schmich urges us to refrain from excessive worrying about future uncertainties, comparing it to a futile task like solving algebra with bubble gum. The true challenges in life often arise unexpectedly, so it's more beneficial to focus on the present and accept that not everything can be anticipated or controlled.
Themes
WorryFutureChallengesLifeUnpredictability
In practice
Example use cases
In a motivational speech about managing stress and anxiety.
More from Mary Schmich
All quotes →In twenty years you'll look back at photos of yourself and recall in a way you can't grasp now how much possibility lay before you and how fabulous you really looked.
Mary SchmichRead
Similar quotes
Half-heartedness doesn't reach into majesty. You set out to find God, but then you keep stopping for long periods at meanspirited roadhouses.
RumiRead
I don't believe you! Flowers are weak creatures. They are naive. They reassure themselves as best they can. They believe that their thorns are terrible weapons.
Antoine De Saint-ExuperyRead
I think we'd be very foolish to expect that we can just import everything from somewhere else and imagine that that's going to last for ever and ever and ever
Prince CharlesRead
Life without knowledge is death in disguise.
Talib KweliRead
I often regret that I have spoken; never that I have been silent.
Publilius SyrusRead
You hold in your hand an invitation: to remember the transforming power of forgiveness and loving kindness. To remember that no matter where you are and what you face, within your heart peace is possible.
Jack KornfieldRead