Worry

“How to stop worrying and start living,” is one of my favourite books.

Dale Carnegie first published it in 1948 and it quickly became the standard for the self help industry.

Jesus recognised worry as a terrible sickness in the human psyche.

“Can any of you add a single hour to your life by worrying?” Mat 6:27

There was a popular police show in the 70s called Starsky and Hutch. A running gag involved a coffee machine that stole Starsky’s money at the start of each episode. Sometimes the policeman would kick it and once he even ripped it from the wall and shook it violently.

Regardless, you always knew what was going to happen. The policeman would lose his money and the machine would suffer insult.

Worry is like that. It’s expensive and it changes nothing.

My colleague suffered from swollen glands on his neck. Like most of us he consulted Doctor Google instead of his family GP. After an hour on the internet he was worried and he finally confided his fears to his doctor.

“Did it help?” the crusty old practitioner barked.

He has a point.

Worrying will rob you of sleep. It will turn your hair grey. It will give you high blood pressure. Then, at the end of the day, it will change nothing.

My colleague was dehydrated and had suffered no more than a blocked drainage tube. Two days of sucking on lemon drops cured his problems.

Listen to Jes