Worry!

by Marsha Cook

Reflection: “Worrying is using your imagination to create something you don’t want.” ~ Abraham/Hicks

Woe now…

Are you what in an old cliché is called, ‘a worry wart.’ That is the title we bestowed upon kids in school way back in the 1950’s and 60’s who were anxious about every little thing. Those were the ones who never ran around and played at recess. They stood off to the side, heads hung low, hands clasped together stressing over the quiz to take place after lunch; or the black mark on their new sneakers I on the other hand spent every moment of recess I could running, shouting, laughing, climbing, and having fun. I did not give a thimble full of thought to the upcoming quiz, the mark on my new ‘Keds’ or anything that went beyond my favorite subject – recess.

Fast forward to post school years, when everything I could not anticipate and cause to turn out perfectly, in simple terms ‘ate my heart out.’ Do you do that? Do you worry about ‘everything?’ Do you carry the weight of the world on your shoulders; carry the rock of distress upon your chest, so that taking a deep breath is next to impossible? Are you constantly tired to a point of exhaustion? These heavy feelings of worry make smiling a difficult task! I am officially retired from that vein of thinking and feeling now. How about you?

Why o, why o…

Why do human beings worry so? What is the underlying cause of such fret concern? The short answer is Control. We the people are managers, organizers, directors. Some are micromanagers. We are shown this behavior from the moment of our birth. Everything has to be organized in order for us to come into the world. Even ‘natural’ birth today is as structured as can be. So, we grow to think that the only way to keep ourselves and our families safe; the only way to work in an office environment or a medical establishment is to assume as much control as possible. Nothing can be left to chance, to the unknown. We plan, examine, and arrange. Some of the time this actually works and life appears to move smoothly down the lane. The operative word in the last sentence is ‘appears!’ This need for management is the organization of the outside world. What about within? What happen inside when you worry?

Imagine that…

Let’s take a close look at worrying. More often than not we stress over what may come, what has-not-happened yet. Think about this, in a moment of action, there is no worry as we are in motion, doing something. There is no time or space for worry.