People Over 80 Reveal The Worries They Regret Having When They Were Young

Between financial troubles, relationship woes and health scares, there are plenty of worries throughout our lives.

According to the American Psychological Association, about a third of people report that stress feels overwhelming most days. Some of these concerns are incredibly valid. Cost of living is absurdly high, health problems (a pandemic, anyone?) can spark intense anxiety, and conflict can be extremely painful.

However, there are plenty of other scenarios we often ruminate over that aren’t worth it. As the old adage goes, “most of the things we worry about don’t happen.”

To test just how true that is, HuffPost spoke with people in their 80s, 90s and 100s to get their thoughts on the things they worried about when they were younger. And, it turns out, they wasted time fretting over some of the things you may be concerned about now. Here’s what they said:

They wish they didn’t care what people thought about them.

Jackie Stricker, who is 100 and lives independently atSt. John’s Meadowsin Rochester, New York, said that, during her teenage years, “I suppose it mattered to me what people thought about me.”

While this was a worry of hers during her younger days, what people thought of her became less of a concern as she got older.

“Sometimes people don’t like you, and there’s really nothing you can do about it,” she explained to HuffPost. “They themselves don’t even know why, so I don’t worry about it.”

They wish they didn’t stress so much about the outcome of situations.

When asked what he thinks young people should worry about less, Kenny Vance, an 80-year-old musician who splits his time between New York City and Florida, told HuffPost that the outcome of some situations should be less of a concern.

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