Wemberly Worried

I love the children's story by Kevin Henkes entitled Wemberly Worried, mostly because I believe Wemberly to be a distant relative of mine. First, Wemberly is worried no one will come to her birthday party. Then when lots of people show up she is worried there won't be enough cake. On Halloween she is worried there won't be anyone else dressed as a butterfly..and then that there will be too many butterflies. When Wemberly starts school she nearly falls apart; What if she can't find the bathroom? What if the teacher is mean? What if she doesn't make any friends?

Although the story is sweetly resolved in the end, I can see so clearly what Wemberly will be like as an adult:

Is she annoyed with me? 
What if my muffin top looks terrible in these jeans? 
Why do they keep having parties and I never get invited? 
Will we ever go on a vacation that feels relaxing? 
What if we don't get the raise? 
What if my child never grows out of this stage? 
Why did that person act so abrupt in the grocery store yesterday? 
Why didn't I exercise longer? 
Why did I eat Oreos for breakfast? 
What if we can't afford it? 
What was THAT supposed to mean?

I had some Wemberly Worried going on over the weekend. The What ifs were eating at my liver and I'm not even sure why, except that when I'm tired I worry, fret, read into things and over analyze ten times more than when I'm well rested. But right as I was about ready to make myself loopy from all the worry, worry, worry I happened to open the blinds in my family room. The sun was shining, the sky was blue, my kids were playing in the backyard and suddenly I had the thought: This is what is immediate. This is what is happening right now, and that's all that matters. The other stuff, it's all theoretical, circumstantial and mostly delusional. Focus on what is right in front of you. Sun shine. Blue skies. Happy kids. And possibly a long afternoon nap.