Big important troubles, life’s disasters and catastrophes are dealt with by necessity, doing nothing is not an option, and we are strong because we have to be, there is no other choice, but as Billings said “It’s the little bits of things that fret and worry us; you can dodge an elephant but you can’t dodge a fly”.
It is one of life’s cruelties that the smallest things take up the most space, and they can feel very big. A speck of dirt caught in your eye feels like a stone, the smallest splinter irritates constantly, creating pain out of all proportion to its size.
So it is with worry; worries are like seeds if you nurture them they grow. A tiny niggling thought that turns into a worry, steadily grows until it is so swollen that like a river breaking its banks, it floods the mind and drowns out all other thought.
Anxious thoughts are an essential part of human reasoning, they are part of our fight or flight reaction. If we did not acknowledge real threats we would not be alert and ready to deal with them. The danger is when we can not distinguish whether we are worrying about a real menace or an exaggerated maybe.
“That the birds of worry and care fly over your head this you cannot change; but that they build nests in your hair this you can prevent”. Chinese Proverb
Title quote by Roger Babson