“In your life expect some trouble but when you worry, you make it double.” Bob Marley
I’m pretty zen with most of life’s ups and downs, but….I had an experience that really sent me into “double” worry. I was on a trip with my family and the Airbnb we had rented had a huge magnolia tree in the front yard. One day, I stepped outside where my grandchildren were playing and I heard, “Grandma, I’m up here.” My grandson, Toby, was up in the top of the tree. Before I could say, “Don’t climb up any further”, the limb he was standing on broke and down he came. I ran toward the tree presumably to catch him but, fortunately, the bottom limbs caught him. We were literally face-to-face. I helped untangle him from the tree. He was scratched up a bit but otherwise okay. I went inside with him to tell his parents how far he had fallen, how violent it sounded, and how lucky he was to be stopped by the lower branches because he could have really hurt himself. Toby had fallen out of trees before and their attitude was, “Boys will be boys” and, “Boys climb trees all the time and we should let them”. I was beside myself!!! So, for the next several days, I relived that moment and made it worse and worse. What would have happened if I had caught him, would we both be badly hurt, what if he had fallen on his sister who was playing under the tree and they were both badly hurt, what if Toby had hit the ground and broke his back, his legs….and on and on. FINALLY, I somehow managed to come up with a rational thought. I asked Toby and his Dad to agree that Toby would climb trees but he shouldn’t go all the way to the top where the branches were weak…..they agreed. It was such an easy fix but I couldn’t see it while I was concocting all these other terrible scenarios THAT DIDN’T HAPPEN!!! So, from now on out….I’m taking Bob Marley’s advice and the advice of Reverend Kitty’s series on “Change the Channel on Worry” and keep my consciousness of peace through Spirit.
