Is constant worry the silent killer no one talks about?

Do you ever feel like worry is just part of who you are?

I’ve lived with that constant buzz of anxiety for years. As a highly sensitive person, I can feel the weight of the world pressing on me—my mind racing through endless possibilities of what might go wrong. It feels responsible. It feels like I’m doing something useful.

But lately, I’ve been asking myself…  Is all this worrying helping—or is it quietly hurting me?

There will always be reasons to worry. But I’m choosing selective, purposeful concern over generalized anxiety. Wasteful worry drains me mentally, physically and clouds my thinking. I want my energy available when it really matters—not wasted on imagined disasters that may never come. I’m reserving my emotional energy for when I can truly use it—when it can actually help. Not just because my nervous system is on high alert.

What I’m learning to do instead is pause and ask myself:

Is there something I can do about this right now?
If yes, I act.

If no, I breathe—and remind myself that worry won’t change the outcome. It’ll just exhaust me.

I’ve also noticed that my worry often masks something deeper: impatience. I want certainty. I want answers. I want results. And when I don’t get them quickly enough, I try to force control through worry—as if anxiety could make things move faster.

Real growth doesn’t work that way. Real peace comes from releasing what I can’t control and staying present with what I can.

Something to think about: How might your life shift if you trusted yourself to take thoughtful action, instead of staying stuck in anxious overthinking?