Me in 1995 preparing for my first tandem sky-dive!

Last week I noticed a very suspicious looking blemish on my cheek, and I started worrying.  I was especially nervous because when my mother was my age, she developed skin cancer under her right eye.  Then several years ago my sister Ann had an angry looking sore on the back of her leg that wouldn’t heal for months.  Even though hers turned out to benign, the experience made for some anxious times.  So it didn’t require much imagination on my part to convince myself that my blemish could require a big chunk to be cut out of my cheek, scaring me for a lifetime.  Or worse.

Finally, after waking up in the middle of the night with worry on my mind, I called the dermatologist.   Although he couldn’t see me for a week, I realized that I could continue to allow fear and worry to control my life for the following seven days, or I could do something else.  But isn’t that choice something we all face every day in this thing called life?   Fear and worry?  Or peace and happiness?  We decide. [Read more…]