Charles Boothe: "What, me worry?" Alfred E. Neuman had it right all along

Oct. 21—Alfred E. Neuman said it all: "What, me worry?"

Chances are, not many recognize that name but it was once very famous across the country.

Neuman is the name of the red-haired kid with a gap between his front teeth and a mischievous look often gracing the cover of "Mad," a satirical magazine that reached its heyday in the 1970s but is still being published, usually lampooning political figures.

Maybe it was the expression of "What, me worry?" that actually inspired me to think more about what a waste of time and energy excessive worrying is.

But I am sure it also had to do with the fact that, from about everything I read, heard and saw, one of the most impactful things on our health is stress.

I do distinctly remember, though, gradually adopting Newman's expression as a reminder to me when I was experiencing what I considered to be too much stress.

Wait a minute, I would say to myself, what exactly is this stress accomplishing? Yes, we all need to experience a degree of it sometimes to motivate us to do things we don't want to do, but need to be done.

But worrying about things we have no control over and can't change or worrying about bad things that "could" happen is a distinct exercise in futility, frustration and folly.

It was during this time I also heard the expression "carpe diem," Latin for "seize the day."

In other words, live every day like it could be your last, and, of course, it could.

Such a scenario leaves absolutely no room for excessive worry, and not much room for worry at all for that matter.

When you think in carpe diem terms it is a matter of not only prioritizing and reaching a balance between those things you must routinely do and how you spend your time otherwise, but also of finding joy.

And that certainly means embracing the small things we take for granted, like having a good meal or a conversation, watching a sunset, walking in the woods, seeing a good film or reading a good book.

It means finding joy on the spiritual level as well.

Even when we do necessary things we may not want to do, finding some level of satisfaction in them can be gained by having a positive attitude.

As Aunt Ebb used to say, "Son, whatever job you have to do, little ones or big ones, do the best you can and feel good about it."

I may not have understood at the time, but I sure did later.

Obviously, we can't always have that attitude, but most of the time we can.

Not only that, I also realized how futile and unhealthy worrying is because even many of those things that happen to us we consider "bad" at the time often end up turning out good. Those silver linings we always hear about happen far more than we may think.

All of us may get upset over something, wishing it had not turned out the way it did, but down the road realize that if it had not happened, the good things that often follow may not occur.

It's like a series of unexpected and often unwanted events that seem to eventually fall into place and, in hindsight, a level of satisfaction and happiness without those experiences may very well have never happened.

Life can be a jigsaw puzzle where pieces seem to often randomly fall into places but eventually fit together to create a complete picture.

So, why worry?

Worrying about money is probably the most common thing and the answer to that may be to, well, find a way to make more.

However, that old saying about the more you make the more you spend seems to be true, so you could end up in the same worry mode, only with larger bills to pay.

There is another old saying: The only difference between a rich man and a poor man is money.

Sure, having a lot of money creates more options and allows people to afford a more elaborate lifestyle, but that does not necessarily solve all their problems, make them happy or help them be worry-free. In fact, having a lot of money often creates new problems.

A rich person does not enjoy a good meal more than I do, or love and be loved any stronger, or get any more satisfaction out of a hike in the woods or a great conversation or seeing a good movie.

So why worry about not having more money?

In the end, all that really counts is how you live your life every day, how happy you are, how healthy you are, how carpe diem you can be.

Too much worry can ruin that.

Contact Charles Boothe at cboothe@bdtonline.com