Take a good look at the picture that accompanies this post.  Wouldn’t it be nice if there was an off-ramp that would allow us to exit Life temporarily so we could retreat and rest and regroup before tackling it again?  Unfortunately, between the news media and social media, the world seems intent on constantly reminding us of how terrible everything really is.  And that it’s only going to get worse.

COVID deaths are climbing drastically (and no, this isn’t a COVID blog . . .) especially among our children.  There is unrest in our country and across the globe (none of which I’m going to address here).  There are natural and man-made disasters all around us . . . from the Surfside condo collapse to the forest fires that are consuming California and the earthquake in Haiti . . . from the tornado that damaged much of Iuka, Mississippi to the flood that ravaged Waverly, Tennessee . . . the images burn themselves into my brain and haunt me when I try to sleep.  There is so much devastation and so much death, sometimes it’s hard to comprehend.

We can’t make sense of it all and there are no explanations that will satisfy those who are hardest hit by the catastrophes that seem to pile one on top of the other.  And although I don’t understand the whys, I do understand how important it is that we learn to manage the stress and the worry, the fear and the grief that can consume us, even when it’s brought about by events that do not directly affect us.  How do we go about reclaiming a little of our sanity and a great deal of our inner peace?  Maybe the following will be a start toward answering that question:

All of that is easier said than done.  I know that.  But I also know if we don’t learn to control the amount of time we give to negative emotions and thoughts, and we don’t learn how to control our reactions to them, it can literally kill us.  The old saying, “You’re gonna worry yourself sick” and its variation, “You’re gonna worry yourself to death” are old sayings for a reason.  There’s truth to be found in those words.  Think about that the next time you feel yourself being sucked into the tragedies that are not yours.  Yes, there may be things you can do to help, but worrying isn’t one of them.

About the author:  Lisa Shackelford Thomas is a fourth generation member of a family that’s been in funeral service since 1926.  She has been employed at Shackelford Funeral Directors in Savannah, Tennessee for over 40 years and currently serves as the manager there.  Any opinions expressed here are hers and hers alone, and may or may not reflect the opinions of other Shackelford family members or staff.

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