Don’t Worry, Be Happy
Can you believe this song is over 18 years old? I bet every person who reads this today will know Don’t Worry, Be Happy and can hum the tune. Bobby McFerrin even won a Grammy for it.
Worrying is NOT a pleasant thing and really can mess up your life. Bobby shared that thought with us when he wrote the song.
I know several “professional” worriers. I swear, they worry all the way through the day and even go to sleep worrying if they will wake up in the morning!
Worrying has done much to destroy lives and take the joy out of living for millions of us. They say it can even lead to illness and death and take years off our lives.
On Friday night I happened to be home. This is rare for me, but I decided after a long day’s work to put on some comfy clothes, turn on my new ventless logs, and watch a little television without doing anything else. Usually, I am doing housework in between commercials. This time I just watched.
John Stossel hosted a two hour ABC show called Scared Stiff: Worry in America.
Man. I can’t believe anyone worries THAT much.
There is a great deal to be worried about today. I won’t list them all, but we could be worried all the time just about normal, everyday things.
Now THAT is scary.
To think we are walking around in our everyday lives with people who worry that much is disheartening in itself.
So are there those among you reading this that are worriers?
Here are some thoughts on the subject.
Worrying keeps us from being all we can be. We know life will throw us curves. We know we won’t always be happy. Worrying about how long we have on this earth, if we will get sick, if something will happen to the ones we love, etc. is only going to shrink the quality of our lives down.
In a sense, worry steals the best of who we are and throws it to the wind.
My brother in law and I talked briefly on the phone yesterday. He is reading a book that tells about a man who goes back to “make things right” in a number of parts of his earlier life. The man worried a great deal about those events and had a chance to go back to “fix” them. Turns our that many of those changes made little difference. Some did. Most didn’t.
Bottom line is, worrying about what happened in the past won’t do you a bit of good UNLESS you learn from it and don’t repeat whatever it was. Learning from the past, however, IS worth thinking about those things just a bit…but not fretting or worrying about it for long periods of time.
My wish for you today is that, if you are a worrier, you let it go and live your life as passionately as possible everyday. If you can’t shake that worried feeling, it may be a sign of depression and you might consider visiting a therapist or doctor to get a little help. Life is just too short to worry yourself all the way through it. Be as happy as you can and savor the moments life has to offer. If you are not a worrier but have a loved one that is then my wish for you today is that you help them as best you can get beyond that. Be patient while they are at that place, but don’t enable them to continue worrying without help. They may need your gentle encouragement to deal with it.
~ Joellen