Worry is Like a Game of Mousetrap

Sometimes things come into my life

that get me all cranked up.

No matter how many stop signs pop up

to tell me to let go of my foolish thoughts

someone eventually boots a ball into my path

that I just can’t ignore,

And then that ball really gets rolling!

All this worry puts me on unstable ground,

like a rickety set of stairs,

and sends me careening down chutes

that plunge me to new depths.

The troubles can flood my life

like an overflowing bathtub.

The 24-hour news cycle clogs pipes

and won’t let the water drain.

Sometimes I feel like I’m on a seesaw

with all its ups and downs,

or like a man diving into a pool

where the water is too shallow

to break his fall.

All this worry I consume like bait,

like savory cheese that tastes so good

because the worry gives me purpose,

tempts me with a sense of control,

fills my stomach with meaning.

And as I fill my belly with every new tidbit of information

And fret over each hard decision in all this craziness,

the cage descends and traps me in my own misery.