This is my "philosophy" as it pertains to whatever bothers me (or tries to upset me.)

Why worry?

Dale Carnegie was a great speaker who wrote many books about dealing with life. My long-gone father read his every word and took them to his heart. My Dad always quoted Carnegie when he found that something upset me.

"Worry about something ONCE. Then go on. Why worry about something again when you've already worried about it ONCE?"

That was advice that stuck. It is like a mantra. When a snake bites you, you get it fixed and you go on. When you discover that you've screwed up, you know that you've screwed up. So you go on.

Life is too short to waste it worrying and getting bent out of shape by external effects that ruin your day. You don't know when life will end, so you don't worry about it. It can end at any time - any moment - so why waste it?

You could walk out your door and an eagle could drop an anvil on your head. So why waste one single minute of your life wrapped up in anxiety?

This morning I have $17 dollars in my checking account and $26 in my wallet. I paid all my bills Saturday but don't have enough to pay my $228 heating bill yet.

Am I worrying about it?

No.

I'm not going to worry about it again - because I worried about it Saturday when I wrote all my checks and took them to the post office.

I will find a way to pay Columbia Gas of Ohio. I don't need to let it ruin my Monday.

I don't need a tranquilizer to cope with it, either. If I needed chemistry to live 'normally,' I would check into a hospice.

To allow something or someone to f••k up my day or my life would be to submit to it or them and give up my spirit and independence. To be a zombie under the influence of a pill because something or someone upset me would mean I am a servant to external influence.

I am not.

Neither are you.

Remember this: No matter what happens, they can't eat you.

The DELETE key is a wonderful invention. It rivals the paper clip or the rubber band in usefulness.

Use it. And don't dwell on what others think of you, what others say to you, or what gets you upset.

.........

I'm not done.

Life is a partnership between the individual and the fickle finger of fate.

There is no bailout for us when we are assaulted with troubles. We must deal with it and go on. The only one who can help is the one doing the thinking.