What Me Worry?

When I was a boy one of my favorite magazines was Mad Comics.  Mostly due to its ability to lampoon sacred cows, but also because parody is one of my favorite forms of humor.  The Magazine had a mascot of sorts whose name was Alfred T. Newman.  I have no earthly idea of the origin of him, but if need be I could always resort to my unshakable faith in Google to find out the specifics.  Anyway, Alfred T. Newman was this Red Headed, pumpkin shape headed kid with extra large ears and a missing front tooth who always sported a conversation bubble saying “What me worry?” It was the indirect Magazines anthem of nothing ever getting to them.

   Years later, as I studied psychology I found out that one of the many coping mechanisms we humans use when faced with challenge or contradiction to our sense of well being was to reconstruct the external word in order to keep our delusional perception of the way the world should be; or in actuality ‘right’.  Our need to be right circumvents facts to the contrary; because our self esteem, our very self concept, relies on our interpretations to be correct.  If not, well then a fragile self esteem house of cards comes crashing down on itself in the realization we have been deluding ourselves about personal characteristics we thought were applaudable.  Short version:  We’re prone towards a delusional life. 

  It was there I discovered the root of worry.  General concern over present conditions commandeered (aka hijacked) by delusion.  Further, as in the above, delusion is a conceptual belief built on self deception.  Now that self deception can be accepting selective facts to support a desire (or dread).  Or it can be total fantasy.  The underpinning point of this path of discussion is that Worry is self delusional interpretation of inadequate resources to deal with unwanted circumstances. Which to me suggest an open door to victimhood; born upon the conditioning we’ve been subjected to.  If we are taught, and so thereby trained, conditions are beyond our ability to influence, then we will readily see obstacles as something to avoid, or if unavoidable, a lacking that can only be dealt with by an outside superior power.  I have a sneaking suspicion that we are being cultivated, as a society, to worry.  Our media pounds us with external mayhem that is beyond our personal influence.  This, we are told, is our right to know. 

 

Yes, we are having the living daylights scared out of us to KNOW that we are powerless to change the corruption, the hate, the violence.  And who would we call in to save us?  Ghostbusters?  Our ability to solve problems?  Our cooperative human nature to overcome seemingly overwhelming odds?  No, we are encouraged to worry.  And following the pathway of worry, we will be anxious to have someone….anyone…come and save us.  The sad news is; that is not in a comic book, it’s the condition of our depressing and often oppressive technologically enhanced, 24/7 lives.