Remember this song from a few years ago?
In every life we have some trouble
But when you worry you make it double
Don’t worry, be happy
Don’t worry, be happy now.
With everything that’s happening, how are you doing with that? Yeah, me neither.
I woke up Monday with a toothache. The dentist says I need a root canal ASAP. (It is scheduled for Saturday.) So, “don’t worry, be happy?”
Right.
But when I look at this rationally, not emotionally, I see that:
*There is treatment.
*I have an appointment.
*I am managing the pain with OTC medications.
*My insurance will not cover this, but my savings will.
*There is nowhere I have to be right now, nothing I have to do.
*99.9% of me is fine! The rest can be fixed.
*It’s not cancer.
And that in particular makes me happy.
The Old English word for “worry” means “to kill or injure by biting and shaking,” like wolves attack sheep. Over time it came to mean “to distress, persecute.” It wasn’t until the 1800s that it referred to a feeling.
So “worry” went from being in danger, to feeling endangered, without seeing, or even knowing, that there actually is danger.
They tell us that worry is not productive. They tell us that most of the time it is a product of our own, very good and very active, imagination. Corrie Ten Boom said, “Worry is a cycle of inefficient thoughts whirling around a center of fear.”
“Inefficient thoughts.” Who needs that? I prefer rational and clear.
“Center of fear.” Who wants that? I would rather center on God, leaving no room for fear.
For God did not give us a spirit of timidity or cowardice or fear, but [He has given us a spirit] of power and of love and of sound judgment and personal discipline [abilities that result in a calm, well-balanced mind and self-control]. 2 Timothy 1:7 Amplified Bible
“He has given…” Already. It is mine – and yours – today, tomorrow, always. We can tap into it anytime, anywhere. Right now.
So right now I choose not to worry, and I choose to be happy.
And this is worth thinking about:
“If you want to test your memory,
try to recall what you were worrying about one year ago today.”
E. Joseph Cossman
Nope. I can’t remember either. Couldn’t have been important.
And that makes me happy, too.