Many people worry--they are afraid of all sorts of bad things that can happen.
And they ruminate on what ifs and what they can do about it--if anything.
The more people feel they have no control over a negative situation, the more they worry about it--they can feel helpless and hopeless--and this may even lead to depression.
I remember as a kid my dad telling me a story/joke about this--it went something like this:
One grandmother is talking to another.
She complains how her grandson always worries about going to school.
The other grandmother says, "Oh really, why?"
The first grandmother tells her that her grandson is worried because "The kids hate him. The teachers hate him. And everyone gives him a hard time."
The other grandmother says, "So why doesn't he go talk the principal?"
The first grandmother answers, "Because he is the principal!"
The moral of the story is that everyone has problems, and has worries, and it doesn't matter who you are--whether you're a kid in school or the principal in charge, a worker in the company or the CEO, and so on.
I think sometimes we lose sight of the frailty of all human beings and we think mistakingly that just because someone is successful or high up on the totem pole of life that they don't have worries and problems.
Which reminds me of something else my grandfather used to say: "G-d doesn't let any tree grow into the heavens."
No matter how big a person gets, G-d reminds us of who is really boss--so chop chop on the tree and watch that big ego--we're just people. ;-)
(Source Photo of picture: Andy Blumenthal)
