I turned 25 last year. However, it’s only in its nearing conclusion that I seem to have matured in my ways.

Quite frankly, turning 26 has nothing to do with anything, and perhaps the same can be said for the topic of maturity in general. I guess you can say it just happened. A number of things just happened, at different times, and it taught me one thing: Things work themselves out.

With that in mind, my response to various situations that would have otherwise stressed me out and completely bothered me, changed significantly this summer. The hack, as I like to call it, was just to remove the problem. Or to put it brutally—and win some points for wordplay—hack it off. It is obviously easier said than done, and far too simple to be effective for our rather excessive problems, but trust me; constant practice will have you feeling lighter than air! The trick, I mastered, is to stick to the rule: Remove it-hack it off-let-it-f**king-go! Now do that, just that, close your figurative eyes, hack it off, and you will be fine. Because like I said, things work themselves out. Why worry? Of course you will, I still do, but we both know it doesn’t help.

I remember the first time I tried “the hack” this summer. I was running behind a deadline for a project. I was working 20 hours a day for three consecutive days and I was still falling behind schedule. That wasn’t the problem, it was the fact that I had a daunting list of other things I had to take care of, they moved a day down every time I delayed with my time urgent project, but they never stayed down there—they roamed my thoughts and haunted my focus. And then I realized they were the reason I was not completing my project. I was worrying so much about it that I couldn’t properly focus on what I had to work on. And then did it happened: I canceled EVERYTHING and focused all my energy on my project. It felt sooo good, that I couldn’t help but stir in guilt. Why did this feel so freaking good? Why was it so easy?!! And where could it apply? To the latter, everything and everywhere. I applied it things to that upset me, petty arguments, troubles I faced, things that confused me, things that made me cry, to-do lists, every single thing that was a problem. And it worked! I would remove the problem, readjust myself, and move on. Like that, everyday, without stressing or over thinking matters.

I understand now more than ever that worrying solves absolutely nothing!

It just steals your time and even worse your peace of mind. If every time you felt like worrying, you took a moment to remove yourself(feelings) from the equation, look objectively at the problem, see what you can fix, let go of what you cannot fix, learn your lesson, do your best and move on, you might actually spend less nights up worrying.

It’s quite simple, really. Try it! Do it once without thinking twice about it, then try it again, and again, it’s pretty exhilarating!

Of course, It won’t always be prefect. I am not going to lie to you, I still struggle here and there, my first extinct is to worry, but I’m trying this more often and it’s really helping me out!

Have a little faith, Trust God & Remember things always work themselves out.

What are your thoughts on overcoming stress? Any hacks you can share with me? I would love to hear them.