Printed in the High Desert Advocate Edition September 24, 2021.
Worry Rarely Changes Anything
Glenn Mollette
Life presents challenges to us all and most of us understand worry. There are enough ordeals along the way of life to cause each of us to worry our heads off. However, worry will never add another day to our lives. Worry will not smooth a wrinkle, dry a tear or eliminate disease, poverty. It will not keep someone from harm. Worry has never prevented bad news or bad things from happening.
Worry rarely changes anything except to make us tense. This usually results in sleep loss, nausea, ulcers and chest pain. Who needs any of these? Worry often leads to stress and too much stress is never reported as being good for us. Of course, just daily living creates some stress for us all. We have appointments, jobs, deadlines, life goals and commitments. Within these there are expectations that bring about daily stress.
Deep down gnawing worry, fretting and fear doesn’t do us much good. When we are filled with worry and fear all the time it only makes our situation worse.
Jesus said in Matthew 5:25 to not worry about the needs of this life. “For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?” Yet, if we are honest, we’ve all worried about all the above and much more at different times in our lives.
Let’s try to think more about caution and prevention and doing what we know to do.
For example, take the Covid-19 vaccination. It’s free, and it might save your life and the lives of people you love. Why wouldn’t you do it? This is called prevention. You still might get sick but it might save your life. Your family loves you and needs you. Surely, you care enough about them to get this vaccination.
I know people who haven’t gotten the vaccination and I’m concerned. However, I’m encouraging them to go and get the shot. This is something I can do. I can talk to them, fuss and gripe. Lying awake all night worrying about it will not change anything.
Eat right, exercise, take your vitamins, go to the doctor regularly and do what your doctor says to do. Worrying about your health, will not make you healthy.
Stop worrying about money. Worrying about money will not make you richer. Go to work. Figure out some way to make a little if you are physically able. Don’t throw your money away. Look for ways to save some. After this, don’t sit around and worry, just be busy doing something and you won’t have time to worry.
Eliminating worry is easier said than done. Pray, meditate, be physically and mentally active. Be creative and on the offense about whatever might be troubling you. Don’t take life sitting down. Tackle what you can and trust everything to God.
Glenn Mollette is the author of 13 books including Uncommon Sense, Grandpa’s Store, Minister’s Guidebook insights from a fellow minister.
… Smile…
Odd, Strange, Weird
Congratulations go to the proud winners of A Nobel Prize — not THE Nobel Prize — the Ig Nobel Prize, awarded by the science magazine Annals of Improbable Research. It’s sort of a spoof that for 31 years has presented awards for odd, strange and weird accomplishments, according to the Association of Mature American Citizens [AMAC]. For example, this year’s honorees include the researchers from Spain and Iran for their study of the germs found in chewing gum scraped from streets and sidewalks in different countries. They won the Ecology Prize. The winner of the Economics Prize, Dr. Pavlo Blavatskyy, whose study suggests that you can measure the corruption in a country by how fat its politicians are. And then there is the Transportation Prize that went to a multi-national team who sought to determine whether it is safer to airlift a rhinoceros upside down or right side up.
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A Hairy Tale
Diehard fans of Elvis Presley, the iconic rock and roller of the mid-20th Century, would pay well for a lock of his hair, says the Association of Mature American Citizens [AMAC]. One fan forked over $72,500 for a jarful of curls clipped from the head of “Elvis the Pelvis” at an auction recently. Presley’s personal barber, Homer Gilleland, had collected a “baseball size clump” of his hair over a 20 year period. He gave it as a present to a friend, who in turn put it up for sale.
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The Pup had her Feet on Wrong
The poor puppy was born with her paws upside-down, according to the Association of Mature American Citizens [AMAC]. But veterinarian Dr. Erik Clary, who corrected nature’s mistake, says that actually the problem was in the pup’s elbows. As he described it: “these patients’ elbows come out of joint early in life and the result is severe rotation of the lower front limbs and an inability to walk. At most, they might muster a crawl that seems most uncomfortable and is poorly suited for a dog’s life.” Fear not, Siggi the pup is on the mend. He says Siggi’s already walking and chasing a ball around during the rehabilitation process.
