Is it time for Worriers Anonymous? May be a need,
although most likely WA already exists. Let me check.
Of course it does. Here’s the link: http://www.worriersanonymous.org.
My public service for the day, done.
This topic arises from what I thought a moderately
interesting quotation yesterday morning, part of my daily routine to post a
notion from the famous, living or, more likely, dead to us. Here’s the
observation: “What worries you, masters you.” John Locke (1632-1704) I include
the lifespan of the author as a way of reminding all of us that the more things
change….
When more than a handful of friends, acquaintances, and
strangers hit the like button, and even more so when a handful take the time to
comment, my reader radar starts beeping.
Worry is not to be taken lightly, of course. Having
evacuated your home under the threat of a Cat 2 hurricane that is slowly
rolling toward your town is cause for concern rising to the level of worry—anxious
moments, indeed, and anxiety for the reality of the situation and the potential
outcome. All fairly and squarely fermenting in the worry barrel.
Turns out, I had 3 quotations addressing worry in my file
of quotations that may or may not see the light of morning—well, I post
typically at 6:00, so would be the darkness of the morning for most this time
of year. I went with Locke because he offered a gentler nudge, a sort of Hey, be aware. And by extension, try to
dial down on the worry meter.
I didn’t go with this line: “I define anxiety as
experiencing failure in advance”. Seth Godin (1960--) Struck me as a bit too
negative at a point in the day that might be pre-coffee or before yoga or after
dressing the kids for school.
And I easily vetoed this one: “Worry is spiritual short
sight…. Its cure is intelligent faith….” Paul Brunton (1998-1981) Just too
early for what may be antagonizing or perhaps a springboard into philosophizing
on the meaning of faith in a troubled time.
But worry about the potential for mayhem of some sort—that
I think gets the goat of some folks worrying the moment. Being a captive of
worst-case scenarios that seem to unleash the coconuts clacking in the mind.
Pacing, knitted brows, restless sleep—or no sleep at all—and unable to wrest
control back from the monkeys.
The ones in your mind. My Zen buddies or meditative types
will know the allusion to the quest to quiet the monkeys in the mind.
Metaphorically. I am just jacking the image up a notch by imagining the monkeys
smacking coconuts together.
If the monkey imagery doesn’t resonate, go with Macbeth complaining
of a mind full of scorpions. Metaphorically. True, he’s killed his king, and so
the visual might be overkill for our day-to-day worries.
But if you do, in fact, conjure an image of monkeys
crashing coconuts together and even add a song for them to be singing, perhaps
your worries may subside a bit, and thus the exercise is therapeutic.
No charge, Worry Warriors.
Now, I must admit some of this coaching strays into the
territory of two of my
strongest dislikes. One, don’t tell me how I feel. Two,
don’t tell me what to feel. Plainly, then, any positive takeaway does not in
any fashion reflect the intent of the writer.
It’s all in your head.
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