Worry Wart

Sometimes I wonder if worry has a purpose. Legitimate fear certainly does. It keeps us away from the cliff, or prevents us from slapping our boss. Worry is the wet noodle of fear. Where fear is acute and pulsating in nature, worry is chronic and dull. It is a backburner emotion, rarely taking center stage. Where fear catapults us into action or deliberate inaction, worry freezes our ability to make a decision, or causes us to make small, petty decisions all day long.

Like a wart, after which worry is so aptly named, it is a useless appendage. It is not supposed to be there yet we call it our own. Excising a wart can obliterate it sometimes, but more often than not it will grow back with a vengeance in a different place. Or we let it be for years until someone points it out to us, when all along we thought no one noticed. If only worry were so obvious that someone who loves us might say, "Hey, take care of that thing! It's ugly!"