What Would John Stossel Say (WWJS)?

Are you a chronic worrier? Are you afraid of the bogeyman around the corner? Do you worry about bad things that could possibly happen? Do people call you a worry wart? If so help is on the way. You need to get familiar with the work of journalist and co-anchor of the ABC News show 20/20, John Stossel. He has aired numerous shows on the folly of being worried, scared or afraid over things which you have little or no control. His most recent was “Scared Stiff: Worry in America”. You can check out his website, John Stossel, and this article, The Fear Industrial Complex. I propose that one way to lower the stress of your chronic worrying is to consider, at the start of any worrisome thoughts, What Would John Say (WWJS)? For example:

• On a flight you feel - “This plane has something wrong with it and is going to crash and burst into flames…there will be no survivors.”
• What Would John (Stossel) Say (WWJS) - “Relax and enjoy the ride. The odds of this plane crashing are about the same as you being hit in the crotch by lightening 10,000 times in a row.”

• After hearing stories about e-coli outbreaks at fast food restaurants you emote - “I’m never going to eat out again.”
• WWJS - “Eating out at restaurants is extremely safe. You have a greater chance of having a three-way with Brad and Angolina than of getting e-coli from eating at a restaurant.”

• After seeing a picture of a missing kid on a milk carton you think - “I’m going to look into have an electronic tracking chip implanted in my child so I can track when she gets abducted.”
• WWJS - “I can guarantee that your child will not be abducted. There is as much a possibility of that happening as there is that porcupine will bite you in the ass while you going number two behind a tree in the Amazon jungle.”

• As you enter an elevator and the doors close you sense - “This is my coffin…first the air will run out and while I’m in agony gasping for the last bits of air, the thin cord that’s holding this box will snap and I’ll plunge to my death as we descend to the depths of hell.”
• WWJS - “Don’t worry, that’s never going to happen, you’ll probably just get stuck between floors for days and starve to death…HAHA…just kidding! The chances of anything bad happening to you in an elevator are equal to the chances that Godzilla will knock on your door dressed as a Girl Scout selling cookies, lure his way into your home, then eat your whole family.”

• You hear about a high school shooting and say - “My child’s high school should install metal detectors, frisk each child as they enter and hire armed security guards to patrol the school.”
• WWJS - “Fear not for I have come with great statistics of comfort and joy. Your child has a better chance of being voted Prom Queen, Miss America and American Idol winner, all on the same day, than of being caught in a school shooing crossfire.

• Your neighbor has a co-worker whose cousin’s friend was mugged in New York City in the early 80’s and you conclude - “I haven’t been to a big city since my grade school field trip in 1976 and I will never go because I could be robbed…or worse.”
• WWJS - “It’s prudent to take common-sense precautions but you don’t have anything to fear. It’s more likely that you will sit next to the Pope on the subway and he’ll say, “nice day isn’t it” and you’ll say, “yeah”, than it is that you’ll get mugged in the big city.

To be clear, I’m not mocking John Stossel by making these humorous, hopefully, comments. I am a big fan of his and I love his shows. I think that knowing the odds against something happening will help many people change their irrational fears, worries and concerns. However I also think that most people who have these thoughts know deep down that they’re irrational but they can’t help but have them. So, in addition to understanding the statistics, people with these types of worries should contemplate how we are guided and supported by the same Divinity that sustains the whole universe. What will be will be. Let go and let God’s grace comfort you. Peace.