Why do people spend so much of their time worrying about the future? It is a waste of time and robs one of peace of mind. J.M. Rishi of Jalandhar sent me an article on Epicurus’ thoughts on the subject of anxiety. He maintained that people worried unnecessarily about many things: their health, fear of dying, concern for people close to them, losing wealth they had painstakingly accumulated by being robbed — and much else.
Worrying does not help in overcoming worry, he said with confidence. If you are sick (he suffered acute pain from gall-stones in the bladder in his later years), learn to live with it. Worrying about death does not defer it; it comes when it comes, and when it happens, you are no longer able to worry about it.  And so on.
Anxiety has been the concern of Indian teachers from olden times. A popular Sikh hymn runs as follows:
Raakha ek hamaara swami
Sagal ghataa ka anterjaamee
Soey achinta, jaag achinta
Jahan tahaan toon sab
vertanta
(Our Master is only one, He is our protector
He knows the inner secrets of our hearts
Sleep without worry, awaken without worry
He pervades the universe — here, there, everywhere.)

So we continue to advise others chinta mat karo (don’t worry) fikr ki koi baat nahin (there is nothing to worry about) — but worrying about something or the other is integral to our existence. The best one can do is to contain it within reasonable limits. One can do it by preoccupying one’s mind by doing things which need to be done: office-work, looking after one’s family, pursuit of hobbies like gardening, painting, music, reading, writing and whatever else which needs concentration of mind. Nothing else, not even prayers are an antidote to anxiety.

Source:  “How to cope with anxiety”, by Khushwant Singh