John Green once said, “Never go to war with a noun. You will always lose." At times it feels like worrying is going to be a part of life forever, taking on different forms as we get older. As a teenager, the stress that accompanies the worrying seems like an ever present tidal wave I'm trying to run away from before it envelopes my whole being. Worrying remains problematic because the act only harms and hinders you from solving the problems causing you to worry.

Teenagers today are challenged to meet higher expectations than those in the past. A student can choose to take AP courses, or else be accused of taking the "easy route.” Along with those AP courses comes hours of homework for each class with the hope of keeping their grades respectably above average. Since acceptance into colleges is more competitive than ever you want to stand out to the admission offices as worthy of attending their school. Because as your teachers and counselors continue to tell you, college is the one and only key to a successful career as well as life.

On top of this schoolwork students should be well-rounded and therefore recommended to participate in extracurricular activities. I, for example, am a part of the band. Being involved in band hardly resembles an "extra” curricular in my schedule though. Marching season alone takes up enough time to leave students in a constant state of sleep deprivation. August until early November is accompanied by countless hours of rehearsals to put together a seven to eight minute show that by the end of the season that hopefully prevails near perfect. Along with contests that the band participate in, there also remains a football team to support every Friday night. For the first few months of school the band members march, cheer, and play late into the night on Fridays, then rise early the next morning to either rehearse or, once October comes around, attend competitions. This hectic schedule results in seeing the band directors more than your own parents. And while marching season always comes to end eventually, the bands work remains perpetually unfinished. There are also concerts, solos, auditions, and various other events and pieces to constantly perfect and keep band students busy. But at least they will be well-rounded, right?

Although you can not just think about college, you ought to plan for the future as well. Except for the fact that a high school graduate has no knowledge of how to buy a house or how even insurance works, and that terrifies them. Students feel unprepared to take on adulthood because they did not spend enough time in high school learning these life skills.

And once they enter adulthood, there remains more to worry about. Young adults abide hopeful to acquire a stable job to pay bills and ensure that one day they will be financially able to support a family. Then once these young adults are even older, they gain responsibility of children and their upbringing. Before these high school graduates even know it their kids do not remain as kids any longer but as young adults themselves and these once high school graduates begin contemplating all the various aspects of retirement, wishing that all they obliged to worry about was having a decent grade in pre-calc.

The silver lining to all of this is that there remains more to life than worry and stress. But when a friend simply comforts you by suggesting, "Don't worry about it," their sympathy possesses little effect on you. The solution is a little more complex than this empty encouragement. While there remains a substantial difference between worrying and the concern of wanting to be prepared for whatever the future may hold, the act of worrying only possesses the ability to cause more harm to a person and remains ultimately unproductive. Focusing on the positive side of the situation prevails as one of the keys to stop worrying. For example, try not to look at school work as a never ending pile of anguish, but a composition of smaller tasks that are capable of being finished in a matter of time. Furthermore, no one ought to endure stressful situations alone. Friends, parents, and sometimes even teachers are readily available to listen and help conquer whatever their neighbor might endure.

In the end, the most effective way to overcome a task remains to address the dilemma head on instead of wasting valuable time worrying about said dilemma, getting nothing accomplished. As Corrie ten Boom once expressed, "Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow, it empties today of its strength." Worrying does not make a problem disappear, but denies one from other joys that they are missing by using their time for negative thoughts. A macaw will never be able to enjoy the wondrous beauty that is an aerial view of the rainforest if he never flies because he worries that his wing might break.