Little Things and Little Minds - Worrying About The Small Stuff
Thursday, April 8, 2010
No two ways about it, I'm a worrier. The natural state of this penguin is in a state somewhere along the continuum from mild unease through bothered, flustered, agitated and right on to full blown reduced-to-inarticulate-heap stressed out. Causes vary significantly in type and seriousness; although the worry level doesn't necessarily pay much heed to the type and seriousness. To the befuddlement of those around me, I have been known to worry that there wasn't anything to worry about, and that I must have therefore missed something. Yes, I know, it sounds utterly daft out loud, let alone committed to writing (in the quiet and space of my own mind, it seems perfectly logical, I swear).
The practical solution, as far as I've found, is to worry about the lowest common denominator. Hence, if an exam looms large on the horizon, concern drifts towards things like what to have for dinner, what to pack to take on holiday, and what music to use for dance routines. It seems to occupy the worrying requirement enough to keep it occupied while the rest of the mind gets on with whatever it needs to do.
Trying to track down quotes online, I came across (ah, online distractions), some thoughts on worry, which jumped out in their various ways. It never stops surprising me that something which you already know is true and have been told a thousand times in slightly different ways suddenly prompts an "aha!" moment (and the associated clang of understanding) when expressed in some very similar, but minutely different way. The thing that did this as far as worry was concerned was this one:
“Worry often gives a small thing a big shadow.”*
It strikes me as a very Piglet-y sentiment. I love how fabulously visual it is - it just makes sense put that way.
The other things that were interesting were definitely accurate and ways I hadn't thought of it before, but fall a bit too much into the "pithy epithet" category to be useful rather than just clever. Not that clever is at all a bad thing, just that clever without being useful or entertaining tends to escape me...
“Worry is interest paid on trouble before it comes due.”
(W. R. Inge)
“Worry is like a rocking chair--it gives you something to do but it doesn't get you anywhere.”
(another proverb)
“Worry never robs tomorrow of its sorrow, it only saps today of its joy.”
(Leo F. Buscaglia, and yes, if it was cheesier it might come in a can, but we worriers need the obvious pointed out to us, occasionally bluntly)
* It is attributed as a Swedish proverb... would love to know a more specific source if it exists...
Thanks for pointing me in the direction of this post - I love, love, love the rocking chair proverb. It's sheer perfection and one I will def. remember!
x