Thursday Thirteen #409

The worrisome edition. I'm a worrier. It's my go-to. I want everyone in my sphere – pets, friends, family, ballplayers, you name it – to be happy and well and when I can't fix what's bothering them, I fixate. I also want projects to go well and feel achingly responsible when they don't, which is why I'm grateful for my job at the card shop. When I leave at the end of my shift, there's really nothing for me to worry about.

 

I'm not alone in this worrying thing. According to Forbes magazine, anxiety disorders are the most commonly treated mental health condition in the US today. So, what are we all worrying about? I tooled around the web and here's what I found. (My personal demons italicized.)

1. Job and/for financial security. (Which is why anyone who applauds a billionaire taking a chainsaw to people's jobs and emotional/fiscal well being is an asshole.)

2. Health concerns.

3. Death.

4. Romantic relationships.

5. Parents worried about children.

6. Social situations.

7. Environmental concerns/global warning.

8. Travel. (I love being on vacation, but going to/from is a torment.)

9. Adult children worried about parents.

10. Fear of failure. (In my previous life, I handled big budgets and I worried about disappointing my client or, by failing, putting my team at risk.)

11. Aging. (My friend Kathy's age-related mental decline has scared the shit out of me.)

12. Concern over the state of the nation. (Me? I'm a fan of Madisonian Democracy, so I see Donald Trump as a threat.)

13.  Technological privacy.

There are those who advise, "Let go and let God." Yeah, but it doesn't work that way. I believe God gives us our lives, His unfailing love and the promise of Eternal Life, but what we do here on earth is on us. I don't believe that God will make sure the mechanic does a good job on the plane before I board any more than He will help when the bases are loaded and there are two outs in the bottom of the 9th. (And if He were to help, would He intervene on the batter's behalf or the pitcher's?) When I pray, it's for strength and wisdom, not an outcome.

What about you? What keeps you up, and why?

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