Do you like to worry? Most of us would say heck no, but secretly there are those who need to worry and just can’t help themselves. I think we all know someone like that. Believe me when I tell you there is plenty to worry about if that is what we want to do. First of all we can worry about politics. Is the right person in or did they not get elected. Is a political misstep going to start World War III? There are quite a few worriers who like that one and who have invested a lot of time and money in building underground bunkers and stocking them with food. Then there are the other worriers about this who are not able to do these things for various reasons so they just complain without taking any action.
Looking at space gives worriers a lot to worry about if they are disposed to worry. They can worry about a huge rock hitting the planet and destroying all human life. They know it happened to the dinosaurs and they figure it will happen again to us. It doesn’t help that NASA likes to make announcements every once in a while about having to have better detection of these things and building a defense against them. But this is not the only danger from space they can worry about. They worry about a mysterious planet which people say might exist. The planet is said to have an orbit which brings it close to the earth at times and they worry that will destroy human life. Then there are the gamma rays bursts from exploding stars and they worry one might reach the earth and again destroy all human life. There is a lot here for worriers to enjoy.
Deep down these people feel there is nothing like a good worry and they would like to share it with you. The ice melting in the Arctic is custom made for them to worry about. None of us like to hear the ice is melting and the oceans rising but we don’t obsess over it. I read something the other day which caused a person to become so scared they seemed to be on the verge of committing suicide. Does that make any sense, killing one’s self so they don’t die from some cataclysm which may never happen? Is there some connection between people who worry about everything and mental illness? I think if it is excessive there might be, but I am not a doctor. Medical organizations state this could be caused by an anxiety disorder.
If people need to worry they need not look any further than the food they eat. There is a lot there to worry about if we are disposed to worrying. Take sugar for example. We keep hearing too much sugar is no good for us and that causes diabetes. If they want a real good worry they can worry about genetically modified foods entering the food chain. This type of food has been banned in nineteen countries in Europe and yet is served here. Now that is something to worry about. Another food area they can worry about is inspection. We keep hearing about infected food. Millions of pounds of beef have been recalled and produce has been taken off the market which was infected by salmonella. If these people eat out they can worry about the way a restaurant treats their food before it is served. There are a lot of disgusting stories about things that happen in restaurants to food before it is served. Let me tell you about a true story I heard. A young man got a job in a famous restaurant and was told to go to the refrigerator in the basement and bring up a large bowl of spaghetti sauce. He came running back up and told the cook he didn’t know the bowl was on the floor and stepped into it. The cook said bring it up anyway, no one will know.
Health is a big thing for some people to over obsess over. The internet has not helped these people because they look up every little thing they think is wrong with them and get convinced they have diseases they don’t have. This is another type of worrier which many of us know. As soon as they talk to someone who tells them about his or her sickness they think they may also have it. They spend their days and nights worrying about illness. Don’t get me wrong it is good for someone to be concerned about their health I am not talking about normal concern I am talking about abnormal concern. I knew someone like this and somehow he was able to convince doctors to operate on him and eventually he died on the operating table. It seems if you say the right things some doctors will do exploratory operations.
Some people worry too much about crime. We should all be careful but this can be taken to the excess. There was once a person who was so worried about crime he had bars put on all his windows and heavy steel doors put on his house. What he should have worried about was fires because his house caught on fire and the firemen had a hard time reaching him. He had become unconscious from the smoke and by the time the firemen were able to get to him he was dead. Another guy was so worried about his car being stolen he rigged up a spear gun in such a way that if anyone tried to start his car without turning off a certain switch the gun would shoot a spear into whoever was sitting in the driver’s seat. When I heard this all I could think about was this guy driving the car with a spear aimed at him or killing some kid car thief.
Worry about one’s looks can be taken to the extreme. A case in point was Joan Rivers who Newbeauty states had over 700 cosmetic procedures. This has been disputed by one doctor but whatever the amount it was a lot. Some people will do anything to look young. They will starve themselves, run miles every day, have operations which limit their food intake and all sorts of other things done to them in the quest for eternal youth. Most of us just want to age gracefully and in as little pain as possible. I know I don’t want to go somewhere to get the fat sucked out of me or have my face stretched by some plastic surgeon.
There are those who worry they will never have enough money to retire. Now wait before you jump all over me. I am not talking about the normal worry, I am talking about people who have accumulated millions of dollars but no matter how much they have they worry it is never enough. I knew a couple of people like this. Money consumed their lives and that was all they could talk about and how much money others had and how they either didn’t have enough for retirement even though they were worth plenty or they worried about the U.S. currency failing and leaving them high and dry. There wasn’t much anyone could say to them to console them, they were having none of that. When you hear someone talking this way and know they are far better off than you it is hard to feel sympathy for them.
Old age is something a worrier really gets into. Some people are so scared of getting old they actually kill themselves. There was an old time actor named George Sanders who reached sixty-five years of age and decided he lived long enough because he didn’t want to get old so he committed suicide. He left a note which stated “Dear World, I am leaving because I am bored. I feel I have lived long enough. I am leaving you with your worries in this sweet cesspool. Good luck.[“ It is hard to figure out someone who does that because he didn’t seem to be depressed or sick. He also left behind another two notes. No one wants to get old but it is a natural way of life and should be accepted since there is nothing we can do about it yet. I say yet because science its getting close to extending life.
Some people are so worried they are going to get a bug on their body they can’t even go near one to kill it. I have seen grown men who see a spider and call for help and their tiny wives run out to kill it. I have to say if it was me I would be humiliated to do this, especially in front of others. Science says people are so scared of insects because our brains confuse disgust with fear. Sometimes events can cause people to have an unnatural fear of bugs. One person tells of an experience which would alter their life as concerns the fear of insects. They woke up from sleeping one day covered with insects which were crawling all over their face.
Yes there are a lot of things to worry about if we want to worry. These fears can pretty much ruin our lives. We could stay out of buildings because they are too high or stay off planes because we are afraid they will crash. Obsessive worrying about things can take the fun out of living and unfortunately for some it does just that.
