Never trouble Trouble

Since sharing "The Calf-Path" with you I have been reading my poetry book and finding other poems that share great life lessons. I am going to include these in my weekly posts until I run out. I hope you find them as enlightening as I do.

Trouble
By David Keppel

Better never trouble Trouble
Until Trouble troubles you;
For you only make your trouble
Double-trouble when you do;
And the trouble--like a bubble--
That you're troubling about,
May be nothing but a cipher
With its rim rubbed out.

There is a song that was released about twelve years ago, it's called "Everybody's free to wear sunscreen." There is a line that I have always loved from it. Well, I love all of it but this one line really applies here. He says, "Don't worry about the future...or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubblegum. The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind...the kind that blindside you at 4 pm on some idle Tuesday."

The fact is my mind seems to try and find anything and everything to worry about. When in reality it's rarely any of these worries that ever really come along but something I hadn't even been thinking of. Eckhart Tolle refers to this as the ego and that it is keeping you busy and distracted. If you really think about it, just how much time are you spending worrying over that which may never be? How much time and energy does that equate to? How much more effective could you be in your life working towards your goals if you focused that energy towards what you really want rather than what you want to avoid?

I don't know about you but I feel that worrying is an excuse; a means of distracting myself so that I don't get to work on the things that I really want. Because if I don't get working I can keep dreaming about it without the fear of failing hanging over me while pursuing it and possibly seeing myself fall short of reaching the dream after all of that work and effort. What I have come to realize is that sometimes that is going to happen but it's a blessing too. I learn something I didn't know before when I don't make the goal. It teaches me strength, endurance, get back up and try again. There are any number of things we can learn from our mistakes but we will not learn anything from not even trying.

I suggest we all take some time to ask some questions about our worries. And when we come to some answers either revealing them as time wasters or maybe even validating some of them, we need to forge ahead and move forward in spite of them. If you do find validation in your worries; see what you can do to resolve them or ease them but once you do move forward. Moving forward is the only way you will see the changes you want in your life and bring some peace to the worries plaguing you.