I’ve been an anxious person most of my whole life… something that started in the midst of family troubles when I was around ten years old and kind of clung to me like a musty smell throughout my life.

I guess it takes something very instructive in how “out of control” we all really are to make us stop worrying. For me, this was becoming pregnant with my first child. What an awesome, horrible responsibility! What a terror when you think of all the things that could go wrong! Well, you know what? I woke up one day, and realized that the pregnancy was progressing despite my worries, that I had no control over the growth of this little person outside of some very basic and meager to-do’s and not-to-do’s.

Once I realized this, I stopped worrying. If the process of life (chance, fate, whatever) can proceed without my interference or anxiety in this matter, it can in the rest of my own life, too. So, really, I’ve stopped worrying, and realized that there are limits to how responsible I am or can be for what happens to myself and those I love.

Good luck to everyone on this! It’s worth reconsidering the habit of worry.