The P ublisher Po stulates
WHAT, ME WORRY?
M AD Magazine and its
fictitious mascot Alfred E.
Neuman’s caption of “What,
Me Worry?” conveyed the
concept that if you were dumb enough, you
wouldn’t have any worries. I’ve learned
the contrary. The smarter you are, the fewer
worries you have. Firstly, I realized that
worrying will not help me under any
circumstances; and secondly, I’ve found
that even if I think that worrying will make
me more careful in the future, it doesn’t. We
seem to make the same mistakes over and
over, despite the fact that we are supposed
to learn from them. It is not that we don’t
recognize what is coming, but rather that
we choose to believe that this time will
be different.
Since I know that I cannot change the
past, most of my worry time revolves
around the future and what might happen.
I have also discovered that the less I have
to worry about, the more time I have to
worry. It is incredible, but it seems that
when I don’t have something to worry
about, I start to look for things that could
go wrong.
So to rid worry from my life, I have tried
to find some guidelines for thinking about
various situations. Since none of them seem
to work, I have resorted to the belief that
ultimately, things will be what they are.
Because I do not have the ability to change
them, no amount of worry or concern will
alter the future. To use a poor analogy, it is
like driving across Interstate Highway 4
trying to escape a hurricane, only to learn
that it has turned and is now right behind
you and gaining every minute. Likewise,
there are those who leave Florida to avoid
hurricanes and move to Kansas, only to
have a tornado make them wish they were
back in Florida. Or they move to California,
where a wildfire singes their home.
I believe that we have to live our lives
with the thought that what will be, will be.
34 TAMPA BAY MAGAZINE | SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2018
By doing so, we can hopefully eliminate
many of our fears and concerns about what
might go wrong. I have learned that no
matter how foolproof something is, some
fool will come along and foul it up. Life
still goes on, and the world will not stop
spinning. Whatever happens will happen;
there is no beating fate.
Therefore, if you get knocked down, it
is not important why. The important thing
is that you get up again. You are the only
thing that can keep you down, so don’t
worry about what will happen after you
get back up. Just become foolishly happy
like me, and continue living without a
worry in the world. Why would I worry? 9
Publisher / Editor
By Aaron R. Fodiman
What could possibly go wrong that I should worry about?