Is life seriously as serious?

Look at us, with our furrowed brows, our endless to-do lists, and our belief that we're on some sacred mission to “make it” in life. Like, seriously, is there anything more goofy than that?

I mean, we’re so busy proving to the world how serious we are, we’ve forgotten how to play. Remember play? That thing you did as a kid when the whole world was your playground, and your biggest concern was whether you could convince your parents to let you skip the veggies?

As kids, we had it all figured out. Fun wasn’t a luxury—it was the whole point. Yeah, you’d cry sometimes, but then you'd forget about it in like five minutes and be back to jumping off the couch, pretending it’s a spaceship. The older we got, the more that joyful spirit of "let's just see what happens" got traded in for a grim-faced march towards responsibility and "real life."

But here’s the kicker—what if all the grown-up seriousness is just one big cosmic joke? You spend your days chasing after goals, stressing over things that, in the grand scheme, are about as significant as a missing sock. And life? It’s up there laughing, because we’re the only ones taking ourselves so damn seriously.

I guess that’s partly why I started Not Anxious—to remind myself (and anyone else who vibes with it) that the grind doesn’t have to be a soul-sucking slog. We grow up thinking adulthood means you have to wear stress like a badge of honor, that having all the answers somehow makes us better people. But maybe holding onto rigid beliefs is what’s really slowing us down.

We end up building these thick walls around ourselves—"I have to do this," "I need to be that," "Everything depends on me figuring it all out." Spoiler alert: those walls? They’re made of assumptions and unchecked ideas. But, guess what? Inside that cocoon of seriousness, there’s always the potential to transform—like a butterfly just waiting to bust out and go, "Hey, maybe life isn’t meant to be this hard."

If you’ve ever wondered why kids look at adults like, "What’s wrong with them?"—well, now you know. They see us with our grumpy faces, trapped in a maze of our own making, taking everything way too seriously. We forget how to loosen up, laugh at the randomness, and just play the game for what it is: a game.

And don’t get it twisted—I’m not saying we all ditch our jobs, buy a one-way ticket to a beach, and call it a day. The kid in us might dream of a life where veggies never exists, but let’s face it, there’s stuff you can’t skip. What we can skip, though, is the mental weight we attach to all of it. You know that “I’m so stressed, so I must be doing something right” vibe? Yeah, that’s not it.

So here’s the deal. You can keep living your life, doing what you need to do, but without all the pressure of taking it so seriously. Imagine if you carried less stress, less anxiety—what would change? Probably nothing dramatic on the outside, but on the inside? A lot.

Life is the ultimate game, and like any game, it’s way more fun when you stop obsessing over the rules. Break a few of them, see what happens. Ask yourself, "Why am I playing this game in the first place? Who made these rules, and do I even like them?"

And sure, questioning life like this takes some guts. It’s not easy to let go of the mental habits and ego-driven crap that makes us feel like we’re just inches from a breakdown. But the minute you start loosening your grip on all that imaginary control, you’ll notice something: things tend to work themselves out.

So why not start now? Life isn’t as serious as we’ve made it out to be.