May you have many worries

At first glance this Yiddish blessing seems more like a curse. Who wants many worries? Are most not already overburdened with worries - the rising cost of groceries, concerns about children (young and old), struggles over weight, too many tasks and too few hours in a day?

Better not to have one big worry. When life's bigger troubles hit, suddenly there is only time for one worry - time only to love a dying spouse, to search for daily food and shelter, to survive. Better instead to have many, smaller worries.

Better still to turn worries into opportunities.

Local pastor and friend Bill Peterson shared in his "Daily Prayer" email an inspiring excerpt from Lauren Rosenfeld's book, "Your To Be List" (shortened here):

"Ten years from now, it won't have mattered whether or not the sink was perfectly scrubbed.

Ten years from now it will have mattered that I stopped scrubbing the sink to listen to a problem they were having in school.

Ten years from now, it won't have mattered that the plates were chipped or that the cups were not a matched set.

Ten years from now, it will have mattered that we sat down at the table together, said a blessing, and shared stories about what happened that day.

Ten years from now, it won't have mattered that their books were scattered everywhere.

Ten years from now, it will have mattered that they loved to read and did so in every corner of the house.

Ten years from now it won't have mattered that the couch was threadbare.

Ten years from now, it will have mattered that we sat on that couch and laughed until we cried - and that on that very same couch, I held them when they cried genuine tears of sadness.

Ten years from now, it won't have mattered if there were muddy footprints tracked through the house.

Ten years from now, it will have mattered that we ran with abandon, filled our lungs with fresh air, and connected with the wonder of nature...

So today and every day, may I live in the moment with my children, with my eyes to their future. And let me offer my children the gift of what will have mattered in 10 years."

This idea that worries can be turned into opportunities, even gifts, can be applied to most of life's moments. Having one, big worry often forces this process. Better still to be adept at treasuring life's simplicities before, or without, the one big worry.

May you have many beautiful worries.

Sholeh Patrick is a columnist for the Hagadone News Network. Email [email protected].