Dear LPG readers, 

Have you noticed that everyone you know has some worry or other?  Some won’t let their fears come to the surface when they are out and about, and others will talk about issues that we, their friends, might think trivial if they were to continue. And please don’t let me leave you thinking that I am any different. 

In my experience, everyone has something that bothers them, and the little things become big things if there is nothing bigger to worry about. As I write this message, the news is full of international efforts to quell the two massive wars currently unfolding in the world, but if I ask any of my friends what their biggest worry is right now, they are unlikely to mention either of those. There is always something more immediate that consumes their concerns. 

Human nature dictates that every human being needs to be worried about something. Age makes no difference either.  I have a friend who, until recently, was truly worried about his health, having been advised by his doctors that he needed to undergo some medical tests.  Thoughts of the outcome consumed every conversation we had until he got a positive result. Still, his illusion gave way to worries about something he thought his daughter was doing wrong, surprisingly quickly. Worry indeed comes in all shapes and sizes, but its size depends on personal perspective.

My 5-year-old grandson constantly tells me how much he hates going to school, while I must admit to worrying about what the future holds for me in my old age. All those worries are universal, but that does not stop them from being very big and real when they arise in our lives. I can sum up my personal fears by acknowledging the many anxieties I have about what might happen when I can no longer fend for myself. Perhaps the biggest irony is that if I find myself with nothing to worry about, I am really good at stressing about what will go wrong next, and I don’t think that I am the only person who has adopted that habit, either.

We all know what it is like to hear a friend tell you not to worry about whatever it is you are worried about and we often know that our huge worries will appear trivial to many of them; so trivial in fact that I know of some of my innermost concerns that I have kept to myself for fear of being told just how silly they are. 

Having said all that, it occurred to me to see what Google has to say about how we can help ourselves to keep those huge worries to a minimum. I know that computers don’t actually feel anything, but there are many bits of wisdom stored deep within the virtual world. I hope that you will allow me to share some of the perspectives I found there… 

GE, Lewisham.

LPG notes that much of the internet wisdom we can find is often linked to advertisements and invitations to join or subscribe to something. We remind you to focus on the information and remember that it is not obligatory to join or subscribe to anything…

GE offers a few online resources to help put worry into perspective…

(►►►)   (►►►)     (►►►)    (►►►)