"Don't Worry" by Sheila Thornton Warfield
Five years ago, I asked my then 91-year-old Grandfather, what was the key to living a long, youthful life, and, he replied, “Don’t worry about what you have and don’t worry about what you don’t have.”
This year, my Grandfather turned 96 years old and at a family gathering to celebrate his long 96 years, everyone froze like they were getting ready to receive advice from EF Hutton to hear his words of wisdom about the secret to living a long life, and once again he said, “Don’t worry about what you have and don’t worry about what you don’t have.”
It’s a simple thing really. It’s really about Appreciating and Letting go. As I thought more about his wise words, I’ve come to realize the profound truth in them. Think about it...what if we simply embraced and appreciated what’s in our lives and didn’t worry about what we didn’t have. I’m not suggesting that we become complacent. Not at all. I’m talking about doing our best to improve our lives — whatever that means—but not spending the energy worrying and stressing about what we don’t have, right now. For the other side of the coin, ‘not worrying about what we do have’, this is not something we commonly discuss because we are constantly chasing the future--- for people, places, and things! We are often completely preoccupied with acquiring what we don’t have, and it's worth addressing. How many of us become immobilized because we are afraid of losing what we have---jobs, money, status, relationships, youth, good health, etc. If we discuss anything out loud, it’s usually our fear of loosing the job that provides the income to sustain a standard of living. We often silently suffer from fear (and the monsters we create in our own minds) of loosing other Good in our lives, especially people. My Grandfather’s advice is a reminder that WORRY is an incredible waste of time. We just need to Enjoy, Appreciate, and Lean into all that’s good in our lives. And, we need to acknowledge and accept that what one person defines as ‘good’ might be totally different from someone else’s. We’re all different and our needs differ accordingly. It’s really about living our lives in truth and being honest with those around us, especially those we love.
My Grandfather has always had a deep influence on me. He represents acceptance, unconditional love, faith, forgiveness, and family. I feel incredibly blessed to have been fortunate enough to be part of his lineage. At the recent family gathering to celebrate his birthday, my Grandfather added a few more comments this time to his words of wisdom, “Prayer is important and I talk to God all of the time. I’m not alone and I have all of you.”
Enough said.