I love to focus on my thoughts as example: Philippians 4:8 And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.
I cannot truly relate to the anxiety of the day. I am calm because I do not have a constant stream of TV news (we don’t have a TV actually. I do stay informed but I chose what I read. I can say that even during Covid I was not afraid. Maybe it is what we put into our hearts and minds that scares us. Maybe we should have more faith that our prayers will be answered.
Dola, I'm with you in believing we have more choice in what we feed our minds than most of us elect to pursue. Like you, we do not have a TV. The news I take in from online sources is broad and also carefully curated. That said, I was pretty wrapped around my own axle during Covid as much for myself as for my 93 year old mother who ended up hospitalized for a double whammy heart attack/stroke in May 2020. That she not only survived (for another 10 months) but survived without once getting Covid is astonishing. That said, I think having more faith in the possibility of answered prayers is predicated on knowing what to pray for, and I'm siding with Bill on thinking that praying for less anxiety is a good idea! 😇
Full disclosure: I'm not a Catholic. Coincidentally, I wrote this week about my conscious decision to distance myself from all organized religion some time ago.
Elizabeth thanks for your thoughts. We actually spent Covid camping all across the south west at National and State Parks. We tent camp so it was wonderful. I’m with you on the organized religion. I left that behind during college due to seeing too many leaders that were giving opinions that were not based in anything other than their own opinion and bias. I do feel I am very healthy spiritually. Again, thank you for the nice note.
My prayers have been for our country to not be so divisive - will have to wait for that, huh... The anxiety caused by the divisiveness causes turmoil not only online but apparently in personal relationships. It hasn't happened to me in any personal relationships, thankfully. As Dola said, I don't watch any broadcast news. I carefully select what I read, & certainly don't believe everything.
A week before COVID "hit" & locked everything down, our house was broken into. They broke down our back glass patio door so we had to have a plywood piece nailed in place. Then COVID hit & it took MONTHS to get that door replaced. We had the habit of walking out that door to have dinner, enjoy the back view, have friends over, etc... instead, we ended up putting dinner on trays, going out the front door, around the side of the house to the back patio... ended up wearing a path... The police caught one of the burglars - he stole a gun & tried pawning it in another city. They locked him up - but, but, but COVID made them release all but the most violent offenders.
I always click on animal stories. The missing cows - very strange. I was born & raised in CO, so familiar w/ alllllllllll the cows. Bill, hope some time you can do a follow-up on this one... OH WAIT - ARE THEY LOOKING FOR DIRE WOLF TRACKS?????? hmmmmmm
I can definitely relate, Bill. You have such a “calm,” user-friendly way about explaining anxiety. :) A couple of years ago I heard this simple mantra that’s been pretty helpful. The mantra is “what if it all just works out?”
On R.C. masses I am old enough to remember when the mass was converted from Latin to English (and into other local languages around the world). At the end of each mass the Latin words used to be : Priest - "Ita Missa Est", Congregation - "Deo Gratias" which literally translates as Priest - "The Mass is over" Congregation "Thanks be to God."
Someone in the Vatican or UK Church hierarchy obviously worked out that with wording like this the Congregation might well end up sounding like they were giving a sigh of relief at the Mass ending, when spoken in their country's language!
The final English translation (there are a number of variations used) ended up being, much to my amusement anyway:
Priest - "Go forth, the mass is ended"/"Go in Peace" etc.
You were probably smart to purchase that new phone if you were anywhere close to needing an upgrade. Walmart is really going to take a beating, as are all their customers.
I also feel for all the small businesses that rely on Chinese manufacturing. I guess this continuation of China tariffs eliminates a significant tesla competitor.
I would think agriculture is more important than EVs. Were you aware:
That was last October - 6 months ago.
Canada is actively attracting investment and building an EV manufacturing base, and the government aims to protect these investments from potential harm caused by cheaper, subsidized Chinese EVs.
Aligning with the U.S.:
Canada's decision to impose tariffs on Chinese EVs follows a similar move by the U.S., indicating a coordinated approach to addressing trade concerns with China
China needs potash, and it is a significant importer of Canadian potash. Potash is a key fertilizer, and China, with its large population and extensive agricultural land, relies on it to produce enough food. Canada is a major exporter of potash, and a significant portion of its exports goes to China. Gina also sources from Russia and Belarus.
That was a truly awesome and helpful article. My Microsoft Authenticator was in a loop yesterday and I did not follow rule No. 1. I freaked out, not being able to coach my clients on Teams and made my husband's day less than joyful. This is out of character for me and I am reflecting that all the shit lately had an impact (not excusing just reflecting). I did apologize to my husband first thing this morning. Thanks for the article. It helped.
When my wife was going through breast cancer chemo, someone at church handed her this handwritten prayer. We now say it at every meal and try to not freak out.
Prayer of St. Francis de Sales
Have no fear for what tomorrow may bring. The same loving God who cares for you today will take care of you tomorrow and every day. He will either shield you from suffering or give you unfailing strength to bear it. Be at peace, then, and put aside all anxious thoughts and imaginations.
My 13-year-old daughter would always shout out the last part, "Anxious thoughts and imaginations." So that has become a family tradition!
Here’s an earworm to help you along Bill. Bobby McFerrin's song "Don't Worry, Be Happy" is the only acapella track to ever reach No. 1 in the US, which it reached in 1988 and additionally won Song of the Year and Record of the Year honors at the 1989 Grammy Awards.
Ahh. Covid and spaghetti. Standing in the store loading spaghetti o’s which I hadn’t eaten in decades because of diets. Told myself if this is gonna take me, my last meal is NOT gonna be kale! Pasta lovers unite. Thanks for an entertaining newsletter.
Funny!!! My young kids LOVED Spaghetti-0’s!! I felt so guilty putting it in my cart (many yrs before COVID). I was a Weight Watcher leader & didn’t want any members seeing!!
"He's walking down the sidewalk, moving kind of slow. He looks kind of funny, but he's never feeling low. And if you ask him he'll tell you everything is OK. He never worries, you can always hear him say, 'It's all right, don't worry about it.'
He's the mayor of Silver Spring, Norman is his name. Things will come and go, but he'll always stay the same. People have to relax and take it day by day because he never worries and you can always hear him say, 'It's all right, don't worry about it.' "
When the ABC television show "Real People" featured a 7 1/2 minute segment on Norman in 1979, it asked people in downtown Silver Spring if they'd vote for him if he ran for office. Everybody said sure with one black guy responding, "Why not? The last two white men I voted for were bums too."
The U.S. House has passed a bill that voting rights groups have repeatedly warned would make it harder for millions of Americans, including married women, to vote.
The Republican-controlled House on Thursday voted for the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act. The legislation purportedly aims to block non-citizens from voting, which is already illegal and is very rare.
The bill would require an individual to present in person a passport, birth certificate or other citizenship document when registering to vote or updating their voter registration information.
Voting rights groups have said the bill will pose a barrier for millions of American women and others who have changed their legal name because of marriage, assimilation or to better align with their gender identity. An estimated 69 million American women and 4 million men do not have a birth certificate that matches their current legal name.
My 40 yr old son also expressed his preference to the language in the Roman Missal before "the change." As for me, I see a similarity between Catholicism and Taoism in that "Yin and Yang are fundamental concepts in Chinese philosophy, particularly Taoism, representing opposing yet complementary forces that interact to create balance and harmony in the universe and in life. " per AI. Since Catholicism resorts to the writings of St Thomas Aquinas, I always point out that " While Saint Thomas Aquinas had a profound mystical experience during Mass in 1273, leading him to believe his work was "so much straw", he did not have a near-death experience in the clinical sense." per AI. "Aquinas experienced a powerful mystical encounter during Mass, which is believed to have been a supernatural experience of God. This experience led him to stop writing and dictate his Summa Theologica, stating that all he had previously written seemed insignificant compared to what he had been shown." Per AI. As some say about Taoism, things change so go with the flow. No pun intended. LOL
Bill, you touched on something that has been driving me NUTS! I left the Catholic church back when I was trying to get pregnant, having trouble, went the fertility route and was assaulted by catholic priest who told me I'm a sinner and it was God's will that I not have kids. As you know, we adopted two kids at birth, who are now 18 and 23. The only time I step foot in a church now is for weddings, baptisms and funerals. When I'm there, and reciting these prayers from memory, I'm the person who always stands out saying the wrong thing. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
As for anxiety, we have a rule in our house; no drama. Everything can be solved or shelved. I know not everything is that easy, but when you beak it down and talk it through, it really is. It helps to have someone walk through it with you. Covid did not scare me. Most things that happen in life don't, and people think I'm callous. In reality, I'm processing, assessing, and thinking it through. It's just how my brain works for better or worse. It has helped keep my blood pressure so low that they give me the cookies and orange juice BEFORE I give blood instead of after.
I love to focus on my thoughts as example: Philippians 4:8 And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.
I cannot truly relate to the anxiety of the day. I am calm because I do not have a constant stream of TV news (we don’t have a TV actually. I do stay informed but I chose what I read. I can say that even during Covid I was not afraid. Maybe it is what we put into our hearts and minds that scares us. Maybe we should have more faith that our prayers will be answered.
Dola, I'm with you in believing we have more choice in what we feed our minds than most of us elect to pursue. Like you, we do not have a TV. The news I take in from online sources is broad and also carefully curated. That said, I was pretty wrapped around my own axle during Covid as much for myself as for my 93 year old mother who ended up hospitalized for a double whammy heart attack/stroke in May 2020. That she not only survived (for another 10 months) but survived without once getting Covid is astonishing. That said, I think having more faith in the possibility of answered prayers is predicated on knowing what to pray for, and I'm siding with Bill on thinking that praying for less anxiety is a good idea! 😇
Full disclosure: I'm not a Catholic. Coincidentally, I wrote this week about my conscious decision to distance myself from all organized religion some time ago.
https://elizabethbeggins.substack.com/p/leaving-the-church-to-save-my-soul
Elizabeth thanks for your thoughts. We actually spent Covid camping all across the south west at National and State Parks. We tent camp so it was wonderful. I’m with you on the organized religion. I left that behind during college due to seeing too many leaders that were giving opinions that were not based in anything other than their own opinion and bias. I do feel I am very healthy spiritually. Again, thank you for the nice note.
Dola
A pleasure to interact a bit, Dola.
My prayers have been for our country to not be so divisive - will have to wait for that, huh... The anxiety caused by the divisiveness causes turmoil not only online but apparently in personal relationships. It hasn't happened to me in any personal relationships, thankfully. As Dola said, I don't watch any broadcast news. I carefully select what I read, & certainly don't believe everything.
A week before COVID "hit" & locked everything down, our house was broken into. They broke down our back glass patio door so we had to have a plywood piece nailed in place. Then COVID hit & it took MONTHS to get that door replaced. We had the habit of walking out that door to have dinner, enjoy the back view, have friends over, etc... instead, we ended up putting dinner on trays, going out the front door, around the side of the house to the back patio... ended up wearing a path... The police caught one of the burglars - he stole a gun & tried pawning it in another city. They locked him up - but, but, but COVID made them release all but the most violent offenders.
I always click on animal stories. The missing cows - very strange. I was born & raised in CO, so familiar w/ alllllllllll the cows. Bill, hope some time you can do a follow-up on this one... OH WAIT - ARE THEY LOOKING FOR DIRE WOLF TRACKS?????? hmmmmmm
I can definitely relate, Bill. You have such a “calm,” user-friendly way about explaining anxiety. :) A couple of years ago I heard this simple mantra that’s been pretty helpful. The mantra is “what if it all just works out?”
On R.C. masses I am old enough to remember when the mass was converted from Latin to English (and into other local languages around the world). At the end of each mass the Latin words used to be : Priest - "Ita Missa Est", Congregation - "Deo Gratias" which literally translates as Priest - "The Mass is over" Congregation "Thanks be to God."
Someone in the Vatican or UK Church hierarchy obviously worked out that with wording like this the Congregation might well end up sounding like they were giving a sigh of relief at the Mass ending, when spoken in their country's language!
The final English translation (there are a number of variations used) ended up being, much to my amusement anyway:
Priest - "Go forth, the mass is ended"/"Go in Peace" etc.
Congregation - "Thanks be to God"
A natural unintended response was thus avoided!
Peace be with you
You were probably smart to purchase that new phone if you were anywhere close to needing an upgrade. Walmart is really going to take a beating, as are all their customers.
I also feel for all the small businesses that rely on Chinese manufacturing. I guess this continuation of China tariffs eliminates a significant tesla competitor.
Canada, in its wisdom, put a 100% tariff on Chinese EVs. So the Chinese put a tariff on Canada's potash and canola imports. No one wins.
I would think agriculture is more important than EVs. Were you aware:
That was last October - 6 months ago.
Canada is actively attracting investment and building an EV manufacturing base, and the government aims to protect these investments from potential harm caused by cheaper, subsidized Chinese EVs.
Aligning with the U.S.:
Canada's decision to impose tariffs on Chinese EVs follows a similar move by the U.S., indicating a coordinated approach to addressing trade concerns with China
China needs potash, and it is a significant importer of Canadian potash. Potash is a key fertilizer, and China, with its large population and extensive agricultural land, relies on it to produce enough food. Canada is a major exporter of potash, and a significant portion of its exports goes to China. Gina also sources from Russia and Belarus.
That was a truly awesome and helpful article. My Microsoft Authenticator was in a loop yesterday and I did not follow rule No. 1. I freaked out, not being able to coach my clients on Teams and made my husband's day less than joyful. This is out of character for me and I am reflecting that all the shit lately had an impact (not excusing just reflecting). I did apologize to my husband first thing this morning. Thanks for the article. It helped.
When my wife was going through breast cancer chemo, someone at church handed her this handwritten prayer. We now say it at every meal and try to not freak out.
Prayer of St. Francis de Sales
Have no fear for what tomorrow may bring. The same loving God who cares for you today will take care of you tomorrow and every day. He will either shield you from suffering or give you unfailing strength to bear it. Be at peace, then, and put aside all anxious thoughts and imaginations.
My 13-year-old daughter would always shout out the last part, "Anxious thoughts and imaginations." So that has become a family tradition!
I’ve never heard of “and imaginations” LOVE THAT, & love what your daughter did for your tradition ❤️
Here’s an earworm to help you along Bill. Bobby McFerrin's song "Don't Worry, Be Happy" is the only acapella track to ever reach No. 1 in the US, which it reached in 1988 and additionally won Song of the Year and Record of the Year honors at the 1989 Grammy Awards.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=d-diB65scQU
Ahh. Covid and spaghetti. Standing in the store loading spaghetti o’s which I hadn’t eaten in decades because of diets. Told myself if this is gonna take me, my last meal is NOT gonna be kale! Pasta lovers unite. Thanks for an entertaining newsletter.
Funny!!! My young kids LOVED Spaghetti-0’s!! I felt so guilty putting it in my cart (many yrs before COVID). I was a Weight Watcher leader & didn’t want any members seeing!!
"He's walking down the sidewalk, moving kind of slow. He looks kind of funny, but he's never feeling low. And if you ask him he'll tell you everything is OK. He never worries, you can always hear him say, 'It's all right, don't worry about it.'
He's the mayor of Silver Spring, Norman is his name. Things will come and go, but he'll always stay the same. People have to relax and take it day by day because he never worries and you can always hear him say, 'It's all right, don't worry about it.' "
https://silverspringthenagain.blogspot.com/2011/04/dont-worry-about-it.html
When the ABC television show "Real People" featured a 7 1/2 minute segment on Norman in 1979, it asked people in downtown Silver Spring if they'd vote for him if he ran for office. Everybody said sure with one black guy responding, "Why not? The last two white men I voted for were bums too."
Today’s newsletter made me think of this. Sharing as a recovering catholic solely for levity.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=63RcymipKuY
Ha that's funny ... I hadn't seen that but if I had, mine would have been pure plagiarism!
Hmmm…
The U.S. House has passed a bill that voting rights groups have repeatedly warned would make it harder for millions of Americans, including married women, to vote.
The Republican-controlled House on Thursday voted for the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act. The legislation purportedly aims to block non-citizens from voting, which is already illegal and is very rare.
The bill would require an individual to present in person a passport, birth certificate or other citizenship document when registering to vote or updating their voter registration information.
Voting rights groups have said the bill will pose a barrier for millions of American women and others who have changed their legal name because of marriage, assimilation or to better align with their gender identity. An estimated 69 million American women and 4 million men do not have a birth certificate that matches their current legal name.
My 40 yr old son also expressed his preference to the language in the Roman Missal before "the change." As for me, I see a similarity between Catholicism and Taoism in that "Yin and Yang are fundamental concepts in Chinese philosophy, particularly Taoism, representing opposing yet complementary forces that interact to create balance and harmony in the universe and in life. " per AI. Since Catholicism resorts to the writings of St Thomas Aquinas, I always point out that " While Saint Thomas Aquinas had a profound mystical experience during Mass in 1273, leading him to believe his work was "so much straw", he did not have a near-death experience in the clinical sense." per AI. "Aquinas experienced a powerful mystical encounter during Mass, which is believed to have been a supernatural experience of God. This experience led him to stop writing and dictate his Summa Theologica, stating that all he had previously written seemed insignificant compared to what he had been shown." Per AI. As some say about Taoism, things change so go with the flow. No pun intended. LOL
Bill, you touched on something that has been driving me NUTS! I left the Catholic church back when I was trying to get pregnant, having trouble, went the fertility route and was assaulted by catholic priest who told me I'm a sinner and it was God's will that I not have kids. As you know, we adopted two kids at birth, who are now 18 and 23. The only time I step foot in a church now is for weddings, baptisms and funerals. When I'm there, and reciting these prayers from memory, I'm the person who always stands out saying the wrong thing. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
As for anxiety, we have a rule in our house; no drama. Everything can be solved or shelved. I know not everything is that easy, but when you beak it down and talk it through, it really is. It helps to have someone walk through it with you. Covid did not scare me. Most things that happen in life don't, and people think I'm callous. In reality, I'm processing, assessing, and thinking it through. It's just how my brain works for better or worse. It has helped keep my blood pressure so low that they give me the cookies and orange juice BEFORE I give blood instead of after.