Daily Prompt: Faithful
This One is Over: welcome 2013
What a year this has been. We worried, or not, in 2012 about the following:
- Public shootings
- War
- The presidential election
- Global climate change (Hurricanes, drought, flooding)
- Our/world economy
- Joblessness
- Taxes
- GMOs, pesticides, herbicides
- Health care
- Multitrillion dollar debt
- The end of the world
Though not necessarily in that order, and of course, your worries may have varied depending on where you live and what personal adversities you are facing.
Did I miss one?
As we remember the ugliness of last year and face the unknown events of this coming year I have to wonder…
What worries will you carry with you into 2013?
And I ask:
“Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?”
~Mathew 6:27 NIV~
~*~*~*~
My Take?
We hear the news and ask:
“What is this world coming to?”
The answer?
“The end.”
We fear not.
We pray and have faith,
for that is our hope.
Rejoicing we lift up our hands and say:
“Hurry your soon coming!”
We live out our days. . .
know not,
yet are assured.
Selah
~*~
Sunrise over planet Earth
“I’ve had plenty to worry about one time or other. I’m through worrying.” Ernest Hemingway, The Sun Also Rises
(Your opinions may vary and are, of course, accepted.)
Life on the Farmlet 
Welllll….. I worry about anything and everything. Always have and always will. Great post. Thought provoking.
Yvonne, I had to laugh when I read your comment because you reminded me of ME. When I was in my twenties I had a good friend tell me,
I’m trying very hard to just let it all roll off and let God take care of the tough stuff. It isn’t 100%, but I am working on it. 🙂
I’m with Hemingway, I am over worrying. I know how to live my life the best I can for my land. So I shall, because I am the only person I have influence over. Plus I don’t watch or read the news.. it is honestly a happier existence that way! I just AM.. No more worrying Lynda! c
Bob tells me not to watch the news… but I have a hard time listening… Well, actually during the day I don’t do any TV watching. Then when he gets home the TV goes on and he catches up on the world events. So, I still get the news. 😛
Cheers, Celi, happy New Year, and here’s to no more worrying!
(You know when we got married I had a little 10 inch screen TV and it lived in a closet. I only brought it out when something good was on which was about once or twice a year. The Thornbirds and Shogun come to mind.)
Oh Shogun.. I remember that! thankfully john is not a television watcher except for sports on the weekend so i am safe, but i do see what you mean.. Ah well.. read some more history.. it all repeats itself (just different costumes!)and we seem to stumble on.. at least you and i know that we are doing the best we can..
Yes it does (history) and yes we do! 🙂
I lived for years with a world-class worrier – my mother. If I took the trash out after dark, she’d worry I was going to have my throat slashed. If I took a trip, I was going to crash into a ditch. If I worked late, I was dead. 😉
She never seemed to worry about the Big Stuff in the present, but she worried constantly about having messed up in the past or what might be lurking in the future. Most of the time, she never got a decent night’s sleep because she’d start “thinking”, and that would be the end of it.
Needless to say, I picked up some of those habits from her, and I picked them up early. The rest of my life has been a process of shedding those habits. I did so well that Mom started worrying about the fact that I don’t worry about anything! 😉
One thing that really struck me in your post is the phrase “We listen to the news and ask, “What is the world coming to?” The fact is that the media serves their own purposes by keeping us tied in knots. It’s the same on the local level as the national level. Turn on Houston tv news at night, and you’ll get one shooting (two, if they’re lucky), one city government scandal, one story that allows them to show scantily clad women, and two cute animals. That’s pretty much it. Sometimes there are four muggings, one animal and scantily clad men, but you get the picture. It’s not news, it’s an attempt to rile us up and make us think the world is ending.
It isn’t. And I’m not going to worry. I’m going to solve the problems I have to solve, ask for help with the ones I can’t, try to help others with their problems, then go have a look at the sunset and get a good night’s sleep. It sounds like a pretty good 2013 to me!
Great, thought-provoking post!
“The fact is that the media serves their own purposes by keeping us tied in knots.”
I totally agree, Linda. It is all “if it bleeds it leads” then “happy-happy” with a good dose of “the world and politics according to the news media.” Whatever happened to the Walter Cronkite* school of journalism? I really miss those days.
As for the end, well I feel it is inevitable. Wheather one would choose to see it in the Biblical sense, or just within the realm of their own demise, the end will come to pass. I carry on by faith because for me the world would make no sense and seem unbearably cruel without it. (I am certain there are some who could have a field day with that last statement. 😉 )
*For those who didn’t know Walter Cronkite you can read about him here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Cronkite
I like to worry and to moan but I like everyone else to be happy and never moan. I hope you can stop worrying but it will be exceedingly hard.
I think if we are honest we all worry to some degree, Tom, but I do intend to let go of a good deal of it on a day to day basis. As we are told in scripture, the practice of worrying will not add one day to our lives. And I agree with you, it is “exceedingly hard” to let go.
It’s taken me several years, but I’ve come to realize that worrying doesn’t change a single thing. Live a good life, try to do what’s right and accept that there are things totally out of your control. 🙂
I agree with you Anke, but perhaps with this change:
“Live a good life, try to do what’s right and accept that there are [some] things totally out of your control!”
Yes? 🙂
I found a little wall plaque at a yardsale many years ago; I didn’t know the bigger story attached to the words, I was just a kid; but I knew I liked the whole idea and it hung on my bedroom wall ’til I moved out of home…
“God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
The courage to change the things I can,
And the wisdom to know the difference.”
We are all dying, and being rebuilt, one cell at a time from the moment of our birth; change is true and real and normal. Carpe diem my friend and I hope you enjoy the roller coaster of 2013. Hugs, Deb
John F. Kennedy, and yes, truer words were never immortalized.
Thank you, Deb! May I invoke your sentiments to you as well? For good or ill 2013, to be sure, promises to be a wild ride !
Invoke away (and, if you don’t mind, I may just figuratively reach for your hand on the steepest pitches; )
Yes, Deb, please do!
There is only one thing on the list we might not be able to stop but we’re doing our best to get there faster than we should. Let us hope the list isn’t so worrying in 2013 and we can have a happy list instead 😉
Annie, I would love to post a happier list for 2013! Let me work on that for next year. 🙂
Everyone has things to worry about – today, tomorrow & way into the future. The important thing is to balance those worries with a healthy dose of optimism.
Life is all about Balance – Yin and Yang, Positive and Negative.
When you get that Balance right, THEN the worries become less important.
Thank you, Victoria. I agree, but often feel that it is the world that has gone out of balance and that leaves us as the hangers on. For me my faith is my positive in achieving that balance.
Yes, I had all of your worries plus, add to that, our collective treatment of animals. And like Hemingway, I gave them up. I do what I can do and cannot afford the stress of worry. It’s easier said than done, I know. I refused to take in too much within a 24-hour period — limit my time with world news and search for positive news for a more balanced perspective. Like the post a lot.
Welcome to the Farmlet, Amirh! I like your outlook and that you are an advocate for the animals. They really have no voice in their care and therefore need our protection. I’m glad you liked the post. 🙂
Fab post. I have generations of family members (God love them) to whom “worrying” was their vocation and occupation.
You too, GS? I think it is an epidemic. Do you think that if we all work on eradicating it from our own life, then perhaps we can win the war on worry? Sounds like a slogan doesn’t it?
“Let’s Win the War on Worry!”
Your post made me realize that for some reason I’m not the chronic worrier I used to be – but I’m not sure why. Great post and great comments!
It is your strength, Julie. Adversity has been camped on your doorstep this year, and you just kept whacking the life out of it with a broom! You are one of the strongest persons I have ever known. xo
I was always a worrywart too, another character flaw of my Dad. I don’t worry like I used to, but I do tend to lean to the negative because I expect the worst to happen. I hope that 2013 will be a better year for all of us, but I too think it will be a wild and difficult ride to stomach. I’m not going to worry about it though… wouldn’t make a bit of difference in the outcome!
No, Lori, it wouldn’t make a difference in the least, but not worrying will make us feel better!
i’m one of those people who rarely worries. when my friends are worried about something i usually remind them: if you worry about something, and it doesn’t happen, you’ve worried for nothing.. and if it does happen, you’ve had to live through it twice.
i try to stay on the’offense’ so that i’m not scrambling because i wasn’t prepared, but basically life turns out ok if you just trust with a childlike faith and squeeze the best from each day!
so easy for an artist to say!
may 2013 be good to you!
z
Lisa, I think your outlook is effected a great deal by where you live. You posted recently about the children you encounter in your village, and have to think that, as you pointed out, environment is key to a sense of well being, and ultimately a persons outlook on life. I also like your statement:
“If you worry about something, and it doesn’t happen, you’ve worried for nothing.. and if it does happen, you’ve had to live through it twice.”
This is worthy of consideration! Thank you for sharing it with us. 😀
“Shogun” and “The Thorn Birds” … yes. I agree with Hemingway. I no longer worry about anything at all. My late husband always said that worry was a total waste of energy that could be better spent on problem solving! He knew he was dying for 18 months and never worried once about it. That was when I gave up worrying for good. I like what I read here, Lynda. I will be keeping up with you! Have a wonderful New Year! 🙂
Your husband was a wise man. I am sorry for your loss.
I am glad you came to visit and will be returning, George!
By the way, he would have chuckled about your saying:
What is the world coming to?
The end.
I chuckled too.
😀
There are times when two negatives make a positive, but I’m worried that worrying about worrying won’t dispel the worrying.
That said, I won’t worry about our having great expectations for 2013.
(By the way, 2013 = 3 x 11 x 61. What’s not to like about such a year?)
Somehow… I think my post was taken as my worrying unduly about what has come to pass, and what will come to be in 2013. The negative “Worry” was meant to be understood as being wiped out by the positive “Faith.” (Perhaps I need to work on my writing skills a bit more)
You said: “… I won’t worry about our having great expectations for 2013.”
And I agree, Steve, but it will all be based on our outlook.
So, will we believe it when we see it, or see it when we believe it? 😉
No, I didn’t take your post as being overly pessimistic or worried. I was just playing with the ideas you brought up. I’m eager to keep looking out and see what I can see in the coming year.
“So, will we believe it when we see it, or see it when we believe it?”
Oh yeah, VERY good point! There’s that faith thing again – failing to see because we don’t believe or because we can’t/won’t even look? (Hmm, still not sure I’ve said what I meant; ) Either way, to me at least, an open mind is our greatest asset.
Thank you, Steve! I neglected to mention I loved your new year’s based mathematical equation. I am always in awe of the mathematical mind.
Deb, I think you have the essence of the saying. A good friend from my church family in California once shared it with me, and sharing it this morning seemed appropriate.
You got that right on Lynda by worrying you cannot add or take away one thing GOD is in control.
Yup! 😉
Happy New Year, Linda. Just praying 2013 will be the year of peace and harmony 😉
Me too, Dianne, me too!
😉
We forget the pains in 2012 but should always learn from them. We hope and pray it does not repeat in any form ever again. 2013 is a clean slate that we all need to work on together making sure it is everything good, pure and right. To a happier 2013!
Amen, Mr. B! Here’s to each of us doing our part to make 2013 the best we can!
I plant seeds and look forward to spring, knowing the sun will shine, the birds will sing and in nature there is peace. Happy New Year to you Lynda.
Happy New Year to you as well, Janet!
Very Happy Year to you Lynda and thank you for visiting me.
I like Hemingway’s thought very much.
hope to see you soon on our blogs
Happy New Year to you, Chatou11!
I would like that very much, and your work will certainly brighten the coming year.
Good advice, worry accomplishes nothing good. Happy New Year!
Nope, it sure doesn’t! Happy New Year to you too, Patti!