Reserving the Right to Worry

’Tis the season for reflection and resolution. Typically one – reflection – results in the other.

Some insights I’ve gained over this holiday season include the realization that most of us are seemingly eager to worship at the throne of worry. If you’ve ever been short on cash, in poor health or concerned about the well-being of a family member, it’s certainly understandable to worry. You don’t want to experience those situations again. But how exhausting is it to be preoccupied with something that might or might not happen? Because we are usually worried about something that might happen in the future, not something from the past. After all, events that happened in the past have already played out and, with few exceptions, it’s not worth our time to worry about something that already happened.

I’m reminded of a trip we took a couple of years ago. We were late getting to the airport to fly home and midway to the gate, I realized that I had left my phone in the rental car. I sent my son running to retrieve it and one of the girls I was with starting panicking that we were going to miss the flight. I told her not to waste “a good worry” until there was a reason to worry – I was basically reserving the right to worry. If we missed the flight, we could worry then about how we were going to get home.

As it turned out, we made the flight. I kiddingly reminded the girl that she might have wasted a perfectly good worry by prematurely concerning herself with missing the flight.

So, along with exercising more and losing weight, I resolve to step away from the throne of worry and turn my attention to 1) being thankful and 2) being prepared. Being prepared helps prevent the tendency to worry, after all, and being thankful is just a good idea.

But I reserve the right to worry if and when the need arises.

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This first week of the new year, readers of the Crescenta Valley Weekly may take notice of some changes in the design of the paper. Early on, we highlighted stories in different sections of the paper on the bottom of the front cover. We have re-introduced that design element this week. In the next few weeks you will see some other changes, too. And for those who enjoy going online, there will be some subtle changes there as well.

And speaking of going online, a reminder to everyone that our website – www.cvweekly.com – is updated daily. After all, things happen every single day that you should be aware of and we don’t want you to miss.

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