The Art of Worrying

I've perfected the Art of Worrying. Better yet, I've inherited it from my mother.

Every time I think to myself, Stop worrying and live in the present. And as grateful as I am for what I have, I cannot stop fretting over a) being worried about something that has not happened; b) being worried about something that can possibly happen; c) being worried about something that may possibly happen; d) stressed over something that I can control; or e) stressed over something that I cannot control. (I stress out a lot about uncontrollable things...!)

From those statements above, I can conclude that: I worry a lot and as a result, get stressed often. For. No.Good. Reason.At.All. It's all in my head...I'm a bit neurotic, no? After 23 years, I still haven't grasped the concept of "Don't worry, be happy!" When I do momentarily get out of this mindset, it creeps back up on me. I'm what you call an obsessive worrier, or in positive terms, I've mastered the Art of Worrying.

When I'm calm and not stressed--I feel like something's wrong because I'm not stressed. Is this symptomatic of a work-a-holic? Or quite possibly a worry-holic? Like my mother, I fuss over the smallest things and just get really frustrated when things don't happen the way I'd like them to happen. I'm realizing that's something I must get use to because hey, that's life. The unexpected is all part of the mysteries of life. And you may not find out why things happen the way they do or the lessons you ought to learn from them until days, weeks, months or even years later. And this is where the magic ingredient of patience comes in. Being patient with life's twists and turns can help you understand the lessons and see the bigger picture.

So yes, I'm a worry-holic, but that's probably because I'm so impatient to see how my life will turn out. I'm starting to think that patience is the remedy for all this worrying.