There are many things in our lives that we have to worry about: How are we going to make a living? What type of work are we going to do? Where are we going to live? Are we going to get married? If we do, will we have children? And the list could go on with these types of questions! In today’s society we now have to add to that such concerns as: Is the person eating next to us going to jump up suddenly and start shooting everyone in the restaurant? While walking down the street or when “out on the town” is someone going to decide to pull their vehicle onto the sidewalk and mow us down like bowling pins? When we send our children off to school in the morning are they going to be safe, or will they have to face a massacre from the actions of a fellow student? We can add numerous amounts of situations to these questions and we find ourselves worried all day long!
Let’s face facts: There are only so many things we can do to try and minimize the occurrence of most of these developments. And we SHOULD do what we can to make ourselves as safe as possible. But we can’t stop living because of what MIGHT happen! Otherwise we constantly live in fear and WE become the prisoner of our circumstances. And often these circumstances are only fabrications within our minds of what MIGHT be possible. I am not minimizing the terrible atrocities that have happened and are continuing to happen on a daily basis, but often the mere POSSIBILITY of an event happening is sufficient enough to bring our lives to a virtual HALT! And that’s not how we find real enjoyment in our lives.
Franklin D. Roosevelt at his first inaugural speech said: “The only thing we have to fear, is fear itself.” At that time he was speaking about the depression and the prospect of turning the U.S. economy around. Actually Francis Bacon, an English philosopher, statesman, scientist, jurist, orator, and author, said it about 400 years earlier. In his “Essay on Tribune” he said “There is nothing to fear but fear.” Winston Churchill later used a similar quote to the British troops. It seems that politicians (and others) are constantly “borrowing” phrases from one another whenever they feel it is appropriate to do so.
But the point being made is that on many occasions we contrive in our own minds an expected consequence of situations and, in effect, become afraid of the fear of what MIGHT happen! I can best illustrate this with a true life experience in my life that happened when I was about fifteen years old.
One day my cousin and her family came to visit us in Georgia. She was about my age and we usually got along very well together. On this visit she had brought along with her a toy: a gyroscope! It’s a spinning wheel or disc in which the axis of rotation is free to assume any orientation by itself. You can even balance it on the end of your finger with a little practice. The concept has been used in astronaut training and even “carnival” attractions. But I digress from my story.
As it turned out this was my cousin’s FAVORITE toy and she lacked NO words in telling me that I WAS NOT to play with it AT ALL! Of course this made my desire to play with the toy even greater. So during the day I made it my “obsession” to secretly follow my cousin around and I found out where she was “hiding” this wonderful toy when she wasn’t playing with it.
After some time had passed on the third day of their visit, my sisters arranged to take my cousin shopping during the day. I knew this was my time, but I had to plan my course of action in detail. So I waited until about an hour AFTER they left and I knew I still had a GOOD couple of hours before their return. My Dad and Mom had taken my Aunt and Uncle to visit some of the “old” places they used to frequent when they lived in the area so I knew this was the time to act.
I slipped into the bedroom and “searched” through the lower dresser drawer that my cousin was using during their visit. There it was! All wrapped up in a cloth and safely tucked into the corner of the drawer. I took it out and just stood there for a few moments simply mesmerized by the beauty of this fascinating toy. I wound the string around the center axis and gave it a swift pull to start the rotation movement. To my surprise there was a terrible clang, clunk, clink as the center piece flew out of the toy and bounced around the floor! What had I done? The most loved toy of my cousin was in pieces and I had been told DON’T TOUCH IT! I quickly picked up the pieces, wrapped them back in the cloth and placed them securely back into my cousin’s drawer. Then I headed for the back door and left!
Walking away from the house my mind was racing with thoughts of fear and dread. I knew I couldn’t afford to buy my cousin a new gyroscope and I also knew what punishment would no doubt be waiting for me when I went home. So I walked! And I walked! My mind wouldn’t let me have a moment of peace. I knew what I had done was wrong, but I feared the retribution that I would have to face. In time, about three hours later, the tiredness of walking and the desire to have something to drink overcame the fear of what awaited me at home so I returned to face my punishment.
Upon arriving back at the house I slipped quietly in through the back door. I could hear the family up toward the front laughing and having a good visit. As I made my way to the kitchen to get a drink there was my cousin sitting at the kitchen table reading a book. I wasn’t exactly sure how to do this, but I knew it had to be done. So I motioned for her to come over to me and when she did I said: “Can we go back to your bedroom? I need to talk to you in private.”
As we got into the room I told her what I had done and retrieved the gyroscope from her “hiding” place. I unwrapped the cloth and showed her the pieces as I had left them several hours earlier. I wasn’t sure how she was going to respond as she took the pieces of the toy from my hands. For a moment she was chillingly quiet and I thought maybe she was going to slap me on the head or something. Then, to my amazement, she took the two pieces, snapped them back together, and said: “It always does that, but you just put it back in!”
My heart sank for a moment. I had been out walking the neighborhood for HOURS dreading the punishment I would be facing and there was NONE! She put it back together in two seconds and it was like new! All my worries and my fears were for NOTHING! I felt better, but I knew next time I was told to leave something alone that was exactly what I was going to do!
Yes unnecessary fear can prevent us from living our lives. It can stifle our joys and bring overwhelming anxiety to our hearts. Let us use caution. Let us prepare as we can. But most importantly let us LIVE!
QUOTE TO CONSIDE
THOUGHTFUL GEM
"Give and be happy!
and if you can't give --- take less!"
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