The following blog posts were written on my original blog over five years ago. This article is part of my 37 Life Lessons From My Youth Series. Note: I’ve matured a lot since then and my “voice” has changed since. Enjoy.
It’s past midnight and I can’t sleep.
I go to the kitchen to grab a drink but I still can’t think straight.
I made a mistake and took on a lot of debt.
It wasn’t until now that I realize I can’t make my payments.
My thoughts become erratic and my breathing gets shallow.
I know why I did this. It has a purpose. But now it seems I overestimated myself.
Worry grows from the core of my being and spreads out across my body.
My entire body feels heavy. I need to lay down.
So I go to my bedroom. My lady is sound asleep in bed.
I pathetically crawl up next to her.
And in a moment of quiet desperation I hug her and kiss her quietly on the head.
As if I were reassuring her the way I wanted to be reassured.
She wasn’t awake to witness my moment of weakness and vulnerability.
I’m glad she wasn’t.
Several weeks later I made an extra $4,000. Another two months later made an extra $2,000.
Within a year I cleared all my debt.
But boy, there were many times I wanted to throw in the towel.
Worry is more than death. Worry is overkill.
Friend, I told you just now how worry kills the body and spirit.
Although worry exists only in your mind, it weighs on you heavily.
The worry follows you like a ghost that appears at moments you should be feeling at peace.
The hardest part to understand is that it’s only in your head.
Those complications you think about, that make your heart beat faster, it’s all in your imagination.
All those things you worry about never happen.
None of it is real. Don’t let it get to you.
Because if you let worry get to you it will drag your mind out of reality and it will terrorize you.
What you experience is overkill.
Friend, don’t let worry kill you before you die.
But if you do let the worry sink its teeth into your soul, then take this advice:
To do this you must leave the city and be in the presence of all-powerful forces of nature.
You will be so overwhelmed that you will be pulled back into reality and remember that this is what’s real.
Then take a deep breathe and realize that your mind lies to you…a lot.
Remind yourself that in time things will be alright.
Because deep down you already know it will be.
Thanks for reading,
- Rich
