Do not be anxious about anything.
—Philippians 4:6
If you were to stop by No. 24 Cheyne Row in London, you would be at the site of Thomas Carlyle’s house, built in 1708. You could take the tour and see the attic room that was converted into a supposedly soundproof study so Carlyle could work in silence.
There was one problem—his neighbor had a very loud rooster. When Thomas complained, the neighbor said the rooster only crowed three times a day, and he didn’t see how that could be a terrible annoyance. Carlyle said, “But if you only knew what I suffer waiting for that rooster to crow!”
Some of us are nail-biting pros at borrowing trouble, certain that some disaster is headed our way. French philosopher Michel de Montaigne said, “My life has been full of terrible misfortunes, most of which never happened.”
When was the last time you made
something better by fretting about it?