Worry Robs Today of its Joy

My first husband used to shake his head in disbelief and ask me, jokingly of course because he clearly knew the answer, "Are you sure you're really Jewish?  You don't worry or feel guilty about anything."  Even if we were caught up in the same drama, he grappled with those nagging feelings while I seemed to bob on the surface of the issue without being pulled under by those thoughts.

There must be something in my wiring that short circuits worry molecules before they go into overdrive and disturb my equilibrium.  Of course I can rev into emotional reactions, feeling all kinds of negative emotions when warranted --- scared, hurt, angry --- but worry and guilt do not have the skeleton key to my psyche.  I am not plagued by lingering doubts, what-ifs, recriminations, or second-guessing my choices in life.  What about you?  Do you find yourself in the cross-hairs of worry or guilt, sometimes without even realizing you've arrived?

Here are some quotes which capture my relationship to worry.

"Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow, it empties today of its strength."  Corrie ten Boom

"If a problem is fixable, if a situation is such that you can do something about it, then there is no need to worry.  If it's not fixable, then there is no help in worrying.  There is no benefit in worrying whatsoever."  Dalai Lama XIV

"Never let the future disturb you.  You will meet it, if you have to, with the same weapons of reason which today arm you against the present."  Marcus Aurelius

"Do not anticipate trouble, or worry about what may never happen.  Keep in the sunlight." Benjamin Franklin

"Instead of fretting about getting everything done, why not simply accept that being alive means having things to do?  Then drop into full engagement with whatever you're doing, and let the worry go."  Martha Beck

"In Europe people don't worry about the body."  Paz Vega

"We would worry less if we praised more.  Thanksgiving is the enemy of discontent and dissatisfaction."  Henry A. Ironside

Want to learn about ways to get off the worry merry-go-round?  Strategies to stop worrying?  Take a look at "How to Stop Worrying" for some insightful tips.


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