Craven,
I think my worries are simpler than yours. I can't take on that worry. I'll leave the paranoid in your capable hands.
I no longer worry about my hair falling out. I have relocated it to various places for safe-keeping.
I worry about global warming. Is it safe for food to be kept under a lamp so long?
I don't worry much about people. They will make all the same mistakes and disasters they always do.
I worry about my family. I would like them to exist someday, somehow, some way.
I no longer worry about losing my mind. You can't worry about something that's already happened.
I worry about my appearance. I would like to show up and have one, just for a time.
I don't worry about technology. If we were meant to kill ourselves with twisted machinery then that's what we should do.
I worry about poetry. Are there enough words in the world, meaningful symbols, and are they the right ones?
I don't worry about God. He's a big boy, and knows how to take care of HimSelf by now. He's doing a great job I might add. Thanks God!
I worry about our politicians. Some of them might tell the truth pretty soon. Naw, I'm just being paranoid. They'll be just fine.
I'm worried about the ozone. Do I smell like ions to you?
I'm not so worried about the Earth. Most things that happen in the world having absolutely nothing to do with people, and there's no one there to see it.
I'm worried about imaginary numbers. Who knows what they're liable to do?
I used to worry about being in shape. Until I discovered what shape I really am.
I worry mostly now about worrying. Should I worry more or worry less, am I doing it correctly, and is it working for me the way it should?
Worry is an expression of our anxiety about the future. Few of us worry about things that are long past. The present, that ever changing moment between the past and future, takes care of itself. Too many of us are so focused on the past, or on the future, that we entirely lose sight of the present. Do that long enough, and your life will pass unnoticed and unappreciated.
What future is it that we worry about? The next fifteen minutes, next year, or a decade from now. Generally the closer the future is to our perception of the present, the more intense our anxiety for it is likely to be. The person trapped beneath a wrecked car is unlikely to spend much time worrying about asteroides crashing into the earth, or the outcome of next year's election. There is a hierarchy of anxiety that is somewhat similar to our hierarchy of needs.
The sort of risk we envision, and the credibility of unpleasant outcomes, has a lot to do with the worry we carry around with us. The woman who has just been told that her breast cancer is malignant and progressing quickly is going to worry more about her health, than the teenager who shrugs off warnings of lung cancer resulting from cigarette smoking. We have to visualize the future to worry about it. Older people with more experience in pain, disappointment and loss are likely to worry more than the young person leaving home for the first time. There are exceptions, of course. The elderly whose lives have been spent cushioned against outrageous fortune may have suffered less than the abused five year old. The past has its way sending its echos far into the future.
Farmers worry about their crops, and the hungry worry about their next meal. Drug addicts worry about their next fix, and cops worry that the next family disturbance may be deadly, or cause nightmares for months. Politicians worry about elections and being loved. Ben Ladin and Saddam worry that we will find them unprepared.
Once we believe we have secured our personal future from hunger, pain and loneliness, we worry about our community. Why is that? We know that we are mortal and will be forgotten within a short time after we die. However, we will live on in the life of our community. As long as the United States and it's principles live on, I shall live as a part of it. My life, my thoughts and contributions may be forgotten in the thick book of history, but they will never-the-less continue as long as the nation lives. This is just an extension of our search for immortality through our children, grandchildren and descendants. It is a part of the motive that drives individuals to excel, to rise in the estimation of their fellows. We want to build a legacy of greatness, even if it will someday fade into nothing. If the species should become extinct, does it matter to the Universe? Of course not, but it does matter to mortals who must face the finality of the grave.
Worry may not be entirely unproductive. It causes us to think and plan for the future. We visualize the problems that may occur, and then we set out to avoid the traps. Would you want to work in a high-rise office building if you knew that the architect and builder never had a moment's concern with how it was designed and built? Generals worry allot about how a battle should be fought, and the quality of the General is often determined by the intelligence with which he/she responds to the worries. When we are old and no longer earning the big money at the peak of our careers what will become of us? The wise save a portion of their money and invest it. We worry over which investment will provide the greatest return for the minimum risk. We worry about the unanticipated disaster, and make provisions against it as best we can. If we are like the grasshopper, fiddling away the summer we will perish in the cold streets of old age.
However and having said all of that, pay attention to the moment, to this moment, this present. The past is gone and can not be called back to cancel half a line. The future flees before us no matter how hard we chase after it. Only the moment, this moment, truly exists ... and it vanishes as quickly as it comes. Pay attention!
I have to go with owi, I forgot that I also worry if there is enough beer in the fridge. Could have been the beer.
Also, CodeBorg, I used a similar argument in junior high about imaginary numbers, and why they were useless to learn, as technically, they did not exist, and they sent me to the office! :wink: Wish I had thought of your line at the time
LOL! Evolutionary psychology, as I understand it, suggests that the paranoid, anxious cave-person had an edge over the laid-back, happy one, when it came to survival - so we worry - it's in our genes.
Relax and enjoy it....
Hmm..I constantly worry abt money and my career - but I am not much of a worrier.
Beer makes me worry about beer.
Money makes me worry about money.
Friends make me worry about community.
Today, all I have left of them is the sun
with nothing at all to fall back on
for comfort, help, or security.
Strangely, I'm not all that worried.
I went swimming yesterday and found peace in the raw simplicity.
A painful, agonizing, tranquil kind of peace.
Being open helps.
I'm an insensitive lout . . . with an Alfred E. Newman attitude: "What, me worry?"
I worry that the Boss will find out i'm not keeping up with his irrational schedule for the completion of my tasks. Then he walks in, it is apparent that he's forgotten everything he ranted about yesterday, and my few minutes of worry are over for the day. I control so damned little in this world, and have always realized as much, that i am an utter failure at my human responsibility to worry.
It just occurred to me that the question was phrased as follows:
What do you CHOOSE to worry about? May have to think some more about this.
Deb, I recall having read about an experiment that was conducted on the result of the number of eggs a hen could produce under a controlled environment. One group of hens was subjected to loud music; the other group, soft and gentle music; the third, nothing. The result of the experiment was somewhat of a surprise, as the group that produced the least eggs was the one that had NO music at all; consequently, it would appear that we need a little dissonance in our lives to produce. (well, hens do, at least)
The bored chook gathers no moss...
Worry is a wasted emotion. I used to be a worrier.
However, I finally came to the realization that worry never changes a thing and what will be will be. These days I do not procrastinate where possible I take care of what is worrying me or completely ignore it. I refuse to worry about that which I have no control over.
In this life there are only two things to worry about.
Either you will be rich or poor.
If you are rich, there is nothing to worry about.
But if you are poor, there are only two things to worry about.
Either you will be healthy or sick.
If you are healthy, there is nothing to worry about.
But if you are sick, there are two things to worry about.
Either you will live or you will die.
If you live, there is nothing to worry about.
If you die there are only two things to worry about.
You will either go to heaven or to hell.
If you go to heaven, there will be nothing to worry about.
If you go to hell, you'll be so darn busy shaking hands with all your friends, you won't have time to worry . ! ! !
Gautam, Very good! My laugh for the day. Thx
"It can't happen here. It can't happen here." Thank you, Frank Zappa!
If denial doesn't work, then I choose not to visualize what I may be worried about because I worry it is more likely to come true.
Instead, I look on the bright side of things -- sickeningly Pollyanna-like, with a twist of Jung.
With all of our countries resources being used in Iraq, what is there to worry about? We know exactly how it's being spent.
yup spending money the government doesn't have nothing new.
