“What, me worry?”
– Catchphrase of Mad Magazine Cover Boy, Alfred E. Neuman
My sister and I collected every issue for many years. I still think it’s funny — and I wonder if she has some or all of them, somewhere. I’ll have to ask.
In the meantime, worry is a worthy topic.
Why can’t we all be as worry-free as Alfred E. Neuman? Should we be?
Worry isn’t just counter productive, it’s un-productive. Worry neither contains nor provides positive energy. So, why, unless you were born of Pat Heston’s and Loren Stark’s genes, would you worry?
According to an online article, we worry because: (LAME SOURCE ALERT!)
1) We are “never certain about what our future will bring us,” so
2) Worrying almost becomes a way of “keeping the mind active while it waits for the future to arrive.”
3) When we find we are “not in a position to take any concrete action, we allow ourselves to worry out of habit.” And,
4) “our mind is conditioned to do something…so if “nothing can be done about a situation, it will just worry about it.”
Um, I’m not buying it. You see, worrying is a choice. Worrying is a decision. It is completely within our control. So, then, is not worrying.
There is a great old tune from The Atlanta Rhythm Section, circa 1978, which includes the lyric:
“Life on the street is a jungle, A struggle to keep up the pace
I just can’t beat that old dog eat dog, The rats keep winnin’ the rat race
But I’m not gonna let it bother me tonight, I’m not gonna let it bother me tonight
The world is in an uproar and I see no end in sight, But I won’t let it bother me tonight”
If we do, we’re not going to make a difference. Fact is we are never really certain of what the future holds, and getting our mind at peace with that fact gives us a foundation for not worrying. Faith does the same thing, and, not ironically, the best way, perhaps to get our mind at peace is to have a source of Faith.
“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?” – Matthew 6:25-27
So, since being anxious, worrying doesn’t add a single hour to life, since it is void of positive energy, and since it is a decision, Difference Makers can agree that not worrying is a decision that will make a difference.
It’s not just the 46th Psalm (v 10), it’s good business advice, parenting advice, friendship advice and life advice. “Be still, and know.”
Leave a Reply