"Weekend Worrier"
I've been giving some thought to worry recently (you could say I've been concerned about worrying). As Alfred E. Neuman of Mad Magazine fame used to say, "What, me worry?" and Bobby McFerrin entreats to "Don't Worry, Be Happy." Obviously, people have been worrying for a while, for there is even the verse in the Bible where Jesus tells his disciples (paraphrasing Matthew 6:25-34) not to worry about what they will eat or what they will wear. So why worry?
I would propose that we worry because we desire things but are separated from doing the things to meet those desires, or don't get what we desire right away, or feel powerless to get what we desire. So in a feeble attempt to have things go our way and to regain some control over the matter, our minds continue to race, cognitively mulling over the scenarios and processing the outcomes, even if there is little to be done. Hence worry.
Andrew Grove, former CEO of Intel, has a book called "Only the Paranoid Survive." This may be a catchy title for a book and perhaps even a good strategy for business success, but does it make sense in our personal lives? Can we live our lives free of worry - or is it just the unintended by-product of our ever-busy and desirous lives?
I've been giving some thought to worry recently (you could say I've been concerned about worrying). As Alfred E. Neuman of Mad Magazine fame used to say, "What, me worry?" and Bobby McFerrin entreats to "Don't Worry, Be Happy." Obviously, people have been worrying for a while, for there is even the verse in the Bible where Jesus tells his disciples (paraphrasing Matthew 6:25-34) not to worry about what they will eat or what they will wear. So why worry?
I would propose that we worry because we desire things but are separated from doing the things to meet those desires, or don't get what we desire right away, or feel powerless to get what we desire. So in a feeble attempt to have things go our way and to regain some control over the matter, our minds continue to race, cognitively mulling over the scenarios and processing the outcomes, even if there is little to be done. Hence worry.
Andrew Grove, former CEO of Intel, has a book called "Only the Paranoid Survive." This may be a catchy title for a book and perhaps even a good strategy for business success, but does it make sense in our personal lives? Can we live our lives free of worry - or is it just the unintended by-product of our ever-busy and desirous lives?
