Don't Worry, Just Be Happy

High School Worry Warts-------------------------------------------------------
The brown eyed girl and I went to Panarea Bread to have a bite the other night and ran into our back door neighbor and his daughter. Candice was saying how anxious, or “so ready to be out of high school” she was which started me to thinking.
Did you ever wish your life was still as simple as is was when you were in high school? Do you remember the things that troubled you then and how trivial they seem today?
Here is a sample of the things that topped my list: I wonder how they would compare with your own.
1. Which teacher will I get for English Lit next year, will it be Mrs. “Tough as Nails” or Mrs. “I’ll let you slide through and catch up on the sleep you missed last night, but you won’t learn a thing.”
2. Do you suppose Mr. Dickerson will allow me to write the periodic tables on paper and make up the bad grade I got on that last test? And closely related to that one, can I master the art of holding two pencils in my hand and writing two lines at once like another boy, who shall remain unnamed, could?
3. Will my pay envelope from Western Auto be large enough to get those pointy toed shoes from Waggoner-Maggart and still be able to afford a decent Valentine’s Day gift for my girlfriend, or will she have to do with less this year?
4. Will I be able to get my locker, which is next to the band room, open and still have time to get to my third period Algebra II class with Mrs. Oldham, which is on the far end of the second floor, or will I have to carry that stupid Algebra book around all morning?
5. Today is the day we must dress out for P.E. basketball, do you think anyone will notice the hole in my tighty-whities where the Maytag chewed up the seat of them last week?
6. What is the combination to my locker anyway?
7. Do you suppose Daddy will let me use the car to go to the basketball game in Gordonsville, and if I can work that out, how about Watertown?
8. I wonder if I did my homework, or will the dog have eaten it again? I know I started, but did I finish?
9. Why is Mr. McDonald looking at me? Do you think he knows who threw the rocks from the water tower?
10. Why does the order of the universe demand that you like some girl, who likes some other boy, who likes some other girl, and so on until you finally find a steady girlfriend?
11. If I sit at the cafeteria table with all of those popular kids, do you suppose anyone will actually ask me to leave, or just make me wish I had by how they treat me?

Now all of these things certainly seem trivial today from a perspective of nearly 50 years hindsight, but they were the things that made high school something to be feared in the years between 14 and 18, and probably are some of the same things that are bothering the neighbor girl and making her be “so ready to be out of high school.” One would lie awake at night trying to arrive at some knowledge or wisdom which would yield at least one answer, all to no avail.
That which is important moves as our life evolves and I remember complaining to an older friend about the trials of raising young children. This one would not eat his peas; that one would hook his toes into the side of the baby bed and crawl out like an expert mountain climber. This one wanted a bike which I couldn’t afford, and that one had a doctor bill, which I certainly couldn’t afford.
My friend, who had grown children, listened patiently then said, “Bob, little kids – little problems, big kids – big problems.”
In the final analysis, I have come to the conclusion that the problem I am facing today is the most important problem in the world, at least to me, at least today.
I remember taking one of those self improvement classes that GM sometimes wasted money to provide for me that was called, “Be Here Now” and the premise was that we need to live in the moment – to be here now. I suppose there is some wisdom to that, since scripture tells us that, “sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof” and to “not worry about tomorrow” but most of us who put our trust in Jesus live on two planes; the here and now; and the world to come.
The great paradox of, “I’ve got a mansion just over the hilltop” and He came “that you might have life and have it more abundantly.”
My dad often opined that if he were given the chance to change things in his life, he would be afraid to do so for fear of what good thing he might mess up or miss out on. I suppose I got that philosophy from him since I seldom think of little on my own initiative, but I think it is a good hook to hang your hat on, don’t you? In the mean time, don’t worry, be happy.
And, have a blessed day, Bob