There’s so much to worry about. Even if we just focused on our own lives, there’s a lot to worry about. But with the rapid improvements in technology, we have more to worry about now than we ever have.
We always knew there were things going on around the world, but they weren’t in our face all the time. We knew there were starving kids in Africa, we knew there were dangerous places to live in the middle east, we knew there were natural disasters, we knew there were dictators, we knew a lot of things were out there. But, we didn’t have them all thrown in our face, every single day.
I don’t know what your Facebook feed is like, but mine is constantly filled with all of these issues and more. I’m reminded on a daily, if not multiple times a day, just how messed up the world is that we live in.
And it doesn’t matter which philosophy of life you subscribe to, because there is plenty of worry to go around. There are plenty of issues that can cause you to worry, even if you don’t agree with them.
And because we don’t agree with them, we have more stuff to worry about. Stuff we would have never worried about before, because it wasn’t in our faces all the time. But, because we don’t agree, we worry that our way of life is going to be snuffed out and replaced with something we don’t believe in or agree with.
How should we deal with it all?
Here’s my point, and it’s really quite simple, stop worrying about all these things you can’t control. Like the quote in the picture, “Worrying is like a rocking chair. It gives you something to do, but it doesn’t get you anywhere.”
You can’t control what your friends and family believe. You can’t control how your neighbor votes, the fact that they smoke on their back porch and it drifts into your bedroom, that their dogs bark and keep you awake or a thousand other things. You can’t control the ones who are in charge of you, whether they’re controlling your job or your country. There are so many things we can’t control that we worry about.
We can’t control how someone we know succeeds or fails. We can’t control how people around us perceive us. We can’t control our kids to keep them from making bad choices. We can’t control our parents. We can’t control the idiots who drive slow in the passing lane. We can’t control the stop light. We can’t control the guy at emissions. We can’t control the stock market or the super market. It’s all out of our control.
Worry about stuff that you have no control over is like worrying about the person in the rocking chair next to you.
You were hoping to enjoy your afternoon on the porch with your sweet tea, but you can’t because the rocking technique of the person next to you is all wrong. And on top of that, they’re drinking unsweetened iced tea. So instead of enjoying your own rocking chair, you’re worried about something else.
Just Stop It!
If we all just focused on our own lives, and making the most of what we’ve been given and stopped worrying about each other and the myriad of things that are out of our control, don’t you think we’d be much better off?
What if, instead of spending your days worrying about all these things outside your grasp, you just spend your days worrying about how what you’re doing right now is affecting you and those closest to you? What if you started focusing your life in such a way that you became a blessing to those around you? What if you got your stuff together and were able to start helping out others who need it? There’s plenty to worry about in your own life. And if you just focus on doing the best you can with what you have, and then try to make a difference in the people around you, you’ll have far less to worry about.
Reverse the whole world
You know what would happen if we all started living this way? It would literally reverse the whole order of the world. And yes I mean literally.
If we just focused on getting our stuff together and doing what is within our control to do instead of worrying about why the world isn’t doing these things for us, we’d be much better off. So much of what we worry about are things we were designed to do for ourselves anyway.
And if we take personal responsibility for what we’re supposed to be doing, there’s no one to blame but ourselves.
If we can get our stuff together enough that we can start helping one another out, then we’ve gone from worrying about what the other person is doing, to making a difference in their lives. We’re not sitting on the outside judging and worrying, we’re gaining influence from the inside. And when you have influence you can help lead someone in a different direction.
Soon, you’ve started changing the world around you, and instead of having stuff to worry about you have results to enjoy.
I Suppose…
…it’s easier to sit outside your life and the lives of others and feign concern through the disguise of worry. That way, you never have to do any actual work. But, if you haven’t done anything to make a difference do you have a right to worry? Of course it’s easier to never do anything and blame everyone else for why your life sucks. And while I don’t want to ignore the fact that there are those who have a lot to overcome in life, there are plenty of examples of people who have a thousand reasons to complain and worry who decide to enjoy life anyway.
As long as you’re sitting on the outside of your life worrying about all the things that might go wrong, you’ll always have plenty to worry about. But, what would it take for you to live your life intentionally?
Stop letting life happen to you, and happen to your life.
