The truth is, I used to worry. A lot.

So much so that in college I heard a quote that hit me between the eyes.

Worry is like a rocking chair. It gives you something to do but it doesn’t get you anywhere.

I thought at the time it sounded like a good idea. But they failed to tell me exactly how to do that.

It took until I was about forty years old … and a ton of counseling … to understand that what others thought about me or said about me didn’t matter. And that what I had been mostly worrying about had much more to do with that than any life threatening situations.

Those came later.

Not that I don’t still worry. I do. Just not about anything minor.

Someone described it to me as “wearing the world like a loose garment”. So it is there, it is somewhere around me, but it doesn’t constrict my life.

Just now, while cruising around out on the internet, I came across this image and a short article on the Elephant Journal. It appears to be a take-off on the Buddhist tradition.

I’m thinking I need to check out the Buddhist thinking a bit more.