What Keeps You Up at Night?

We worry, we toss, we turn, we’re still up and staring at the ceiling of a darkened room. Yes, we’re older and we seem to need less sleep, but everything is causing us concern these days and making it harder to get enough zzzs. Here’s a list of our major concerns.

We worry: 

• about the killings in the Middle East, and if a realistic cease fire is sustainable, or even plausible.
• about Ukraine and the war that is now past year 2, and the U.S. supplying missiles and more.
• about a big election that’s only four months away, and all the smaller elections that will determine the fate of the House and Senate and our local reps.
• about whether our democracy will remain intact.
• whether our friendships will when we differ so much on potential solutions and who’s best to solve them
• about European countries and their elections moving more to the Right in some cases.
• about climate change, and if the planet will be around for our kids and grandkids.
• that the human race may be the latest iteration of dinosaurs or Pompeii…on their way out!
• if college grads will find jobs to pay off their debt and how they’ll ever find affordable housing.
• about the food we eat and if it’s pesticide free and all the chemicals (microplastics) that are in our some of favorite choices. The same applies to the air we breathe.
• about whether we’re tipping enough or if we have to tip at all when someone simply hands us a cup of coffee at a counter or a pastry.
• if we’re paying too much for that cup of coffee or pastry that we could make at home for a fraction of the price.
• about the escalated prices of groceries and gas.
• about our medical vital numbers, and if we even understand what we’re seeing.
• about what a medical portal will report when we go online after a test or two and wish our doc would hold our hand as we look.
• about juggling so much that we can’t keep everything straight.
• if we forgot a doctor appointment as they keep accumulating—eyesight, bone density, gyn, skin check, colonoscopy and annual exam.
• if we need to keep having a colonoscopy, pap smear, mammogram, prostate exam as we pass the 75-year mark, and then we worry how old we are.
• about falling outside or even inside our homes, tripping on stairs, if we have them, and if we don’t have them, are we getting enough exercise.
• about not getting enough exercise daily or getting enough steps daily if we count.
• about wrinkles and changes in our bodies as we age.
• if we’re losing too much weight, or conversely if we’re gaining too much as clothing doesn’t fit as well in either case.
• if we haven’t touched base with friends and family, and why not! Did they fall or are they ill? Why haven’t they touched base with us? Is it something we said or did?
• if we blurt out the wrong thing in conversation as we lose our filter more with aging and then realize it and worry that we have hurt someone’s feelings.
• if we’re not observing boundaries with our grown children when we say, “We never hear from you,” or “Why are you spending your money on that?”
• if we’re not cutting our carbon footprint when we hop on a long train ride or drive far or go on an exotic vacation on a plane?
• if we weren’t kind enough or were too demanding to the grocery clerk or waiter or hair stylist when we forgot to say, “Thank you.”
• if in a partnership our partner dies first, who will take care of us, and if we live alone, who will be there if we need support and help.
• if we watch a series on TV and we’ll be able to hear it without hearing aids or can read the captions with our poorer eyesight and maybe cataracts.
• if we can afford those hearing aids or will wear them if we do break down and buy them.
• about having a serious critical illness that could be life altering or terminal.
• if we’re empathetic or sympathetic enough with our closest friends and family.
• if we are making good real estate and financial investments, so we won’t run out of money if we live too long or not have enough money to leave some to our children.
• if we haven’t decluttered enough so our kids won’t have to wade through our messes since most want none of our stuff.
• about dementia and if we still have our minds and our memories.
• about what to worry about next when we don’t have to worry.
• if we fall asleep fast; did we forget to worry about something to keep us up?