I'm not a physician, but I'm about as close as you can get. And as a highly trained liberal arts major, I'd like to give you a prescription.
Don't worry.
Don't make me say it twice.
Of course, I shouldn't suggest such a thing. Trying to quit worrying is like trying to keep a pet squirrel.
I once had a pet squirrel—I'm not making this up—named Hank Williams Aaron. One day, I opened the cage to feed him. All I saw was a brown blur. Hank was halfway to Galveston before I could say his name.
My point: you can't stop worrying. Because your mind is like a squirrel, the moment you open the door, it goes nuts, so to speak.
I don't even know what I'm saying here.
The truth is, I was going to write about something else. But today, I saw a young girl crying outside the doctor's office. It got to me.
She sat on a bench, head hung low. A puddle in her lap. People walked by, uninterested.
An old woman finally stopped and hugged
the girl.
They exchanged no words. Only painful smiles.
Look, I know life isn't fair. In fact it's downright criminal. Flat tires, red bank accounts, relationship disasters, a bad diagnosis, busted bones. Death. I don't know what fate dumped in your lap, but I know it stinks.
You have a right to worry, you're a person. This world kicks you in the teeth, then steals your wallet. What kind of idiot would tell you not to worry?
Me.
Yesterday, I pulled out old photos. I thumbed through and saw images of my ancestors. They were poor. I'm talking lucky-to-make-it-past-forty poor.
Then, I found a few pictures of myself, awkward boy that I used to be. Chubby faced, freckled. That kid had a lot to learn—just like his poor ancestors did before him.
And it wasn't all hopscotch and ping pong, either.…