I live on a sea of sand and alkali patches, in a barren desert, at the far end of a small sprawling community in Northern Nevada. Desolate, wind swept country. This is my hard won slice of paradise. Against all odds, I cultivate trees, flowers, vegetables, peace and contentment. This is my garden in the sun.
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Worry
“I am an old man and have known a great many troubles, but most of them never happened.” Mark Twain
“How much pain they have cost us, the evils which have never happened.” Thomas Jefferson
Worry never robs tomorrow of its sorrow, it only saps today of its joy.
- Leo Buscaglia
I really have been a huge worrier for most of my life. I believe that it has something to do with the extremely chaotic childhood that I lived through.
Bruce asks a great question, what about worrying now that we don't have god?
Once I figured out that magical thinking is off the table [whether New Age or Christian], I really seemed to have gotten a handle on worrying more or less. What do we think we will change? Did praying unceasingly get us anywhere? So, does mulling over all the horrible options that life can hand us, over and over, does that in anyway prevent them?
One can mull through all the bad scenarios in the world, allow one’s imagination to run amok, and yet, it will not make what is to come any easier to bear nor will it change things one bit.
The vast majority of what we worry about never comes to pass. While it is wise to wear seat belts and have a smoke alarm in the house, our control over fate is, I think, highly over-rated.
In fact, the whole prayer thing just exacerbates the worries of its believing worried Christian minions. One clearly can be tortured by God emotionally or physically for any reason or no reason at all [think Job]. But for some reason, we prayed. If God knows everything, then it was a monumental waste of our time.
I no longer believe in god or gods at all. I see that we live in a natural world that behaves in a natural way. Either myself or my beloved husband will die someday. Rather than worry about that, I have decided to deal with it when it comes knocking. I try to not push my luck but even so there will always be bad times. Why let the knowledge that there are always going to be bad days ruin my good days?
I tell myself “Stop, you have better things to do with your time” and then I do them. I allow peace to be a larger part of my life than I ever used to. There is no one to bring me peace but my own self, my own thoughts and habits. I have many good things in my life to be thankful for and I try to enjoy them while they are here for the only certain thing in life is change.
I could add more to my answer but I wonder, do you worry less, more or about the same now that you are not a Christian?
Bruce asks a great question, what about worrying now that we don't have god?
Once I figured out that magical thinking is off the table [whether New Age or Christian], I really seemed to have gotten a handle on worrying more or less. What do we think we will change? Did praying unceasingly get us anywhere? So, does mulling over all the horrible options that life can hand us, over and over, does that in anyway prevent them?