Worrying About Worrying

Okay, I admit it. I'm a worrier.

I tell myself it's wrong to worry and that I should just have faith that things will work out as they're supposed to, but I worry anyway and then I worry more because I know I shouldn't worry.

But what if worrying isn't evil? What if it's part of having a creative mind that tends to think "what if..." in every situation? Most of my writer friends tell me they, too, tend to worry a lot.

And if people didn't ever worry they wouldn't take precautions. Imagine if everyone in Japan had simply decided not to worry about what the earthquake did to the nuclear power plant? What if the oil spill had been allowed to remain in the Gulf of Mexico and nobody had bothered to clean it up? What if nobody prepared their homes with smoke alarms, had disaster preparedness kits, or got medical check ups and immunizations?

In all those examples there's something practical to be done as a result of worrying and worrying about things we can't control is a total waste of time. But if our creative minds keep worrying we can find ways to use that negative imagination in positive ways. For example, how about using them as plot suggestions? And maybe some of us worriers will figure out practical ways to prevent possible future problems and make the world a better place.

Hot, Hot, Hot!

I probably shouldn't admit such an embarrassing thing in public, but I'm scared of my stove. Well, it's not the whole stove that frightens me, it's the self-cleaning oven.

I do use it once in a while, but every time I realize the job must be done it takes me several days to get enough courage to actually do it because the oven gets so hot I wonder if it might set the house on fire.

If I turn it on at night what if it starts a fire while I'm asleep? Or if I do it when I leave home for a few hours what if I return and find the house has burned down?

Yes, I know it is designed to be safe. Yes, I'm careful to follow the instructions exactly. Yes, millions of other people use self cleaning ovens and I've never heard of even one that started a house fire. And, yes, I've used mine safely many times.

But, hey! I'm a writer. I have an active imagination and part of creativity is asking "What if....?"

Maybe tonight I'll send the Worry Monster off to bed early and take the dare so tomorrow I'll wake up to a clean oven. Meanwhile I'll try sending him off after some new plot ideas so I can cook up some delicious stories..