Today is the Tomorrow We Worried About Yesterday

What a week of woes! Worry, stress and anxiety have been at the front of just about everyone that I have had contact with. I enjoy sharing with others my favorite saying….”Never let them see you sweat!” I use this with students, instructors our managers and anyone else that will listen to my ramblings. I share this saying because I have found that if you maintain your game face and stay positive on the outside, it will influence how you feel on the inside which will ultimately have a positive impact on others that depend on you for support. But my typically successful pep talk about not sweating failed miserably. After thoughtful consideration, I realized that I wasn’t successful because I, too, needed a dose of Clinical strength antiperspirant. How can I tell others not to sweat and not to worry when I was worrying myself? I didn’t buy-in to what I was saying.  People were going through really tough situations and it was overwhelming. 

In “How to Stop Worrying and Start Living,” Dale Carnegie gives us practical advice. Although written in 1948, his advice is just as applicable today. The most famous “take away” from that book is the famous quote, “When fate hands us a lemon, let’s try to make lemonade.” Other great advice includes, “Let’s fill our minds with thoughts of peace, courage, health, and hope, for “our life is what our thoughts make it.” Finally, let’s forget our own unhappiness–by trying to create a little happiness for others. “When you are good to others, you are best to yourself.”

Easier said than done, right?

Let’s examine what caused worry on everyone this past week that I had personal knowledge of:

Tuesday’s election
Upset client of Clary Sage
Crying student
Death
Sick child
Adultry
Job Loss
Lawsuit
Domestic violence
Hospitalization
Surgery
Prison life (not me)
Argument with husband (yes me)
Competition
No transportation
Negative Facebook posting
Higher education legislation
Car accident
Confessing “Life Rule” number 13

But don’t worry….Be Happy!

BTW:  Warning— Old and Bad joke to follow

Fresh out of business school, a young man answered a want ad for an accountant. Now he was being interviewed by a very nervous man who ran a small business that he had started himself.
“I need someone with an accounting degree,” the man said. “But mainly, I’m looking for someone to do my worrying for me.”
“Excuse me?” the accountant said.
“I worry about a lot of things,” the man said. “But I don’t want to have to worry about money. Your job will be to take all the money worries off my back.”
“I see,” the accountant said. “And how much does the job pay?”
“I’ll start you at eighty thousand.”
“Eighty thousand dollars!” the accountant exclaimed.
“How can such a small business afford a sum like that?”
“That,” the owner said, “is your first worry.”