When I was a kid I had these worry dolls that I would use when I couldn't sleep. The concept was you told each doll a specific worry and then you put them in a box and you let them worry for you so you could get some rest.

Put your worries here so you can set your mind at ease. Let the forum worry about them for you.

-- Anonymous, March 07, 2000

Answers

I can ease one worry right now: no way they'll stop doing Sopranos after just two seasons. It's too popular and too good. I think HBO knows a good thing when they see it.

On the other hand, our local TV critic just gave "Get Real" a really good review, which I just don't understand at all.

My worries: I worry that nobody is ever going to watch City of Angels and the MBTV recaps I'm working so hard on are going to sit there and eventually get deleted when the show is finally cancelled.
I worry that I may leave Austin at some point in the near future and that as great an opportunity it is, I may be making a big mistake by leaving some even better opportunities behind.
I worry that at some point writing won't be as fun as it is right now.< br> I worry that I missed my brother's birthday and that despite his claim that it's cool if we hang out next weekend, that he's really hurt I didn't make it over on Sunday after getting back from a trip I'd just taken.
I worry that I've got 60 car payments ahead of me for the next five years and I've only made one payment so far.
I worry that the Latino Comedy Project show we're doing in April won't come together fast enough, despite all the good stuff we've written.

That's about it... I feel better now.

-- Anonymous, March 07, 2000

I worry that I will never find anyone cool to hang out with in this podunk little town.

I worry that I will never get a grant funded.

I worry that I will not get tenure and I'll have to go work at McDonald's.

I worry that I will not finish my book fast enough and the publisher will drop me.

I worry that I'll never get a chance to be a rock star.

I worry that my big fat black and white cat has something serious wrong with him.

I worry that if he died, my social circle would be reduced by 1/3.

I worry that I didn't turn off my stove burners.

I worry that I have OCD.

-- Anonymous, March 07, 2000

I had those dolls too...I'd either run out of dolls listing off my worries or I'd end up playing with them and acting out ellaborate skits of my worries and consequently fretting even more. Perhaps needless to say, they never worked.

This box never closes! Open all night!

Oh, and don't worry about me not writing...I dig this ride too, too, much...

-- Anonymous, March 07, 2000

Pamie, I had those dolls too! My grandmother gave them to me, only she called them Trouble Dolls. They were all miniature, about as long as a thumbnail and half as wide, and they lived in a tiny yellow wooden box. I wish I had them now.

I worry about money, all the time. There never seems to be quite enough. Actually, there is enough, but only JUST enough for ends to meet. We live every day knowing that if the car broke down or an appliance needed to be replaced, it would be an earth shattering disaster that could throw us in a tailspin for months.

I worry that the house is going to burn down while we're at work or out somewhere, with our 2 cats and a puppy inside. Every day when I drive home from work, I get a little ball of tension in my belly just as I am about to turn the corner onto my street, holding my breath until I see the house is still standing. I did the same thing with our apartments, always straining my neck as I approached to make sure my building was still there. I must have had a subconscious feeling that I'd left the iron on, or the hot rollers or something. To this day I can't let the crock pot do the cooking for me while I'm at work, even though everyone swears it's perfectly safe. I just don't want to take any chances. Please, someone tell me I'm not the only person who has this irrational fear...

I worry about car accidents, not just me getting in them, but also every one I care about. I can break myself into actual sobs and tears by just thinking about what it would be like to get the call that Charlie had been killed in a wreck. Why would I do that to myself? That's just not normal.

I worry that I'm never going to fit into my skinny clothes again, even though I already know I never will. I shouldn't be concerned, because I know that 30 year olds can never go back and wear the size they wore when they were 18. And if there's a 30 year old woman out there who can, she'd better stay the hell away from me, because I am still dealing with this issue. And not very well, either.

I worry about my pets and family members dying. Even if they die of old age, it's still way too soon, so I worry about how I will handle it when the time comes. I think this fear comes from only going to one funeral ever, and never having to see a pet die or be put to sleep. I was shielded from that stuff all my life, and I swear it's going to be a huge problem for me as an adult because I've had no real practice at dealing with those things. So, I live in fear of the inevitable, but hopefully far distant phone call that one of my parents has died, or the discovery of a dead beloved pet. I will probably fall to pieces and be quite the pathetic burden, and that worries me too.

I hope I turn out to be stronger that I think I am, but I worry that I won't.

I worry about the spiders that I know are getting into the house. I rarely see them, and when I do they quickly become stains, but I'm concerned about the ones I'm not seeing. I know the little bastards are in there somewhere, waiting, and they might even find their way into my bed and crawl on me when I sleep. (shudder!)

I worry that one of my nightmares will come true, like the one where I go out for groceries and come back to find my husband having crazy sex with our next door neighbor. I think I dream this because she goes out to do yardwork in Daisy Duke shorts and then bends over so her ass is facing our house. There's no way Charlie doesn't notice.

I worry that my subconscious is going to drive me straight into an asylum, because really, look how paranoid my worries are. They say people who are insane have no idea they are insane, which makes me worry that I might be insane because I don't think I'm insane. But then I read over this list of worries and wonder if maybe the signs are all there and I am just blind to them.

I'm worried about the new habit I have developed of using the same word 4 times or more in a sentence.

-- Anonymous, March 07, 2000

I too have worry dolls. They help. I like to keep one in my pocket at all times.

I am taking a paramedic class and now have a whole new slew of things to worry about I worry that I have a brain tumor I worry that I have an irregular pulse I worry that I have had a heart attack I worry that I will have a stroke I worry about repratory distress I worry about anurisms I worry about diabetes Thank you EMT training

-- Anonymous, March 07, 2000

oh lisa... your list made much sense to me, and your last item (your subconscious driving you to the asylum) made me laugh!

i worry that everyone else remembers the embarassing moments from 10 or 12 years ago that still replay in my head with alarming frequency.

i worry that my apartment will get broken into again, but this time with me in it.

i worry that my parents will die, and i will have forgotten to tell them that i love them.

i worry that the nasty side of me that pops out when i'm really PMSey or over tired will some day escape and take over my personality.

i worry that i'll never fix my credit history, or be able to afford a house or a car.

i worry that i won't ever be able to let go of the things that have hurt me. it's so much more interesting to revisit old wounds, don't you think?

i worry that my boyfriend will run for the hills screaming because he's finally had it with my pushy, compulsive, possessive side.

i worry that i'll never have kids or get married again and really will turn into the crazy old lady with 57 cats who talks to herself incessantly and scared all the little kids in the neighborhood when she comes out to get the mail or buy more cat food.

that's enuf for now. i'll dream about more tonight, i'm sure.

-- Anonymous, March 07, 2000

I feel so much better because Lisa E's worries were my worries. All of them. Especially the house burning down with my beloved pets inside. I worry about money obsessively, I worry that I am getting old and that I won't always have my teeth- the fact that I'm 35 and my teeth are fine doesn't seem to matter. I worry about the crazy crush I have on the blonde guy who works in the supermarket. I go in there every day and buy one item. I justify it by thinking I'm shopping the European way. I worry about my Mother dying, my Father dying, my three cats coming down with an illness. I worry about my ex-husband coming to my door in the middle of the night. I worry about leaving the iron on and the stove on every morning, and usually turn my car around to go check them. There isn't much I don't worry about.

-- Anonymous, March 07, 2000

Wow.. I worry about everything.. I even worry about worrying. I must admit, however, that I thought I was the only one that would worry about things that 'might' happen and become truly upset... like imagining myself, or somebody I love in the hospital.. etc. I worry about time. I worry about the fact that my grandma is alone and a good 3 hour drive away, and this weekend she called to tell us she was calling 911 because she was dizzy & couldn't stand up. I worry that next time she might not make it to the phone in time, I worry that there might not be a next time. I worry that I'm falling for the wrong person and I wonder if I shouldn't fall for them because somebody better might come along, but I'm afraid not to fall for them for fear somebody better NOT coming along. I worry about people that I know I will never see again in my life. I worry about the old man that I see crossing the street from my window at work everyday. I'm worried that they might give me prozac.

-- Anonymous, March 07, 2000

Man, where does a girl begin? I worry about...

*my incredibly horrendous credit history going into the Guinness Book of World Records *never graduating from college *KU not doing well in the tournament (again, I know) *never losing this damn weight *that my friends will start taking my lack of timely email responses personally *that I won't get a decent job and will wind up hanging onto this BS job for way too long *my roommate not wanting me to get a dog *walking around all day with a booger clinging to my nostril

OK, this isn't helping. Much better to just smile and nod. Geeeeez.

-- Anonymous, March 07, 2000

I worry that the cute long-haired boy who answered my personal ad and just called last night is going to think I'm a dork.

I worry that the scripts I'm sending out to contests are going to be sent around to judges as examples of what's "not acceptable" to their standards.

I worry that my family thinks I can't write anything but gay scripts.

I worry that I can't write anything but gay scripts.

I worry that my zombie script isn't going to be any good because it isn't gay.

I worry that I'm doing my job completely wrong, and there's some big file being created in Human Resources, just waiting for the day they're going to fire me.

I worry that I'll never find a day job that pays what this job pays, and I'll never get to do theater again.

I worry that the computer my roommate promises to fix for me and let me have isn't going to work, and I won't be able to write or update my journal from home.

I worry that I won't ever learn how to deal with money.

I worry that I'm just part of a big experiment run by aliens and the whole world is set up to taunt me.

-- Anonymous, March 07, 2000

I'm worried that I'll never find a boyfriend...ever.
I'm worried that my friends are right and I will never get married and become an English teacher (I have loving friends...really, I do).
I'm worried that I will get married, have kids and fall into the soccer mom trap, with no career or life of my own.
I'm worried that I'll fail chemistry and somehow this will prevent me from getting into a half-way decent college with a half-way communications department.
I'm worried that I won't get into as good a college as my friends and they'll look down upon me for that.
I'm worried that because my grades may not be as high as their's in some places, they already do look down upon me.
I'm worried that I'm not as good at Speech and Debate that I think I am.

-- Anonymous, March 07, 2000

You said: "When I was a kid I had these worry dolls that I would use when I couldn't sleep. The concept was you told each doll a specific worry and then you put them in a box and you let them worry for you so you could get some rest."

What I liked about this concept the most is that a lot of these little doll sets have only six dolls (nestled in a walnut, sometimes) and they say that because you only have six dolls to tell a worry to, you are only allotted six worries a day.

If I had a set of these dolls, they'd need therapy.

I worry CONSTANTLY about EVERYTHING. (I'm told it is a Libra trait, for what it is worth.) I worry about things I have no control over and that I know I have no control over.

I worry about things that are over and done with, I worry abotu upcomign events. I worry about every new freckle on my body, I worry that my hair will never grow back after the hairdresser cuts it too short, I worry about people starving to death and suffering because of war, I worry about randommadmen with access to chemical and biological and [fill in type here] devastating weaponry. I worry about my performace reviews, I worry when I leave the hosue and think I may have left my insurance card behind, I worry when I speed, I worry when I'm out late at night (well, my car doors don't lock well and my car was broken into, so I have a LITTLE bit of an excuse to worry), I worry when my boss is cranky, I worry when I am right and have to have a meeting about it, I worry when I'm wrong and have tohave a meeting about it, I worry NOT about what people think about me but how they'll treat me based on what they think of me, I worry about bills, I worry about whether or not to tell people off, I worry abotu whether or not to call certain people on the phone, I worry abotu my grandmother's health, I worry that my cat is too fat, I worry that I'm goign to wake up in ten years and feel like I've accomplished nothing, I worry that I'll never create a work of art again, I worry that I'll get hurt, I worry that someone else will get hurt...list goes on.

Mostly these are mild and sub-textual worries. (I remember mildly worrying that Skylab might fall on me, but I never stayed up late at night obsessing over it.)

Only six dolls?! Are they kidding?! I need at least a small mob of worry dolls, and replacements for those worry dolls to give the originals a break once in a while.

M

-- Anonymous, March 07, 2000

I never had worry dolls as a kid, but I worry all the time.

I worry about the Big Question, "What am I going to do with the rest of my life?", and I worry that the answer will be something horrid.

Right now I'm worried about money. A lot.

I'm also worried that I won't be able to choose the right college to go to next fall, and I'll be stuck in The Wrong Place, trapped there in eternity.

I worry about worrying, too. You get into this cycle where you're worried about something. It's all benign to begin with, but then you worry that you're worrying about it too much, and then you worry that you're worrying too much in general, and you just keep spiraling down.

Eesh!

-- Anonymous, March 07, 2000

I worry that I won't be sent my student loan contract ever, since I've applied twice already and still haven't received anything, and that since my fees haven't been paid, my uni won't let me graduate.

I worry that I'll fail a course this year and have to come back for another half year. *shudder*

I worry that I won't be able to find a job after finishing my degree.

I worry that I won't be able to find a *good* job.

I worry that my boyfriend won't want to live where I want to live, and that he'll want me to stay in his town, and that we'll be stuck there for the rest of our lives.

I worry that I won't be able to do everything that I need to do.

-- Anonymous, March 07, 2000

I worry that my next career project won't take off and I'll be stuck editing forever.

I worry that my husband won't find a job he enjoys (or worse, won't find a job at all) after graduating this May and I'll be working 2 sucky jobs forever.

I worry that my little sister won't be happy in her marriage with that big oaf of a guy she's with. He better not hurt her or I'll kill him.

I worry that my middle sister will always feel inadequate.

I worry that my grandmother is lonely.

I worry that my grandpa isn't getting any better and is losing his ability to walk.

I worry that my father-in-law isn't going to get that skin cancer removed because he's afraid.

I worry that losing all this weight will go out the window for me because I love eating so very, very, much and hate exercising.

I worry that my dad and I are moving too far apart emotionally to relate anymore.

I worry that my mother and I will always argue.

I worry about my family's cat. Hang in there, Mittens, you old boy.

I worry that the breaks on my car are going.

Gah. Thanks, Pamie for the release.

-- Anonymous, March 07, 2000

I worry about my job, and whether we'll succeed as a company or end up in Layoff Hell like we were this time last year.

I worry about whether the company will IPO, and whether my stock options will ever actually be worth anything.

I worry about the 78-year-old house I just bought with my boyfriend, and what hidden annoyances lurk behind freshly painted walls.

I worry about whether a bunch of half-insane military powers in the middle/far east will get it into their heads to start lobbing nuclear weapons at one another.

I worry about the health of my mother, the only member of my family who I can stand to speak with on a semi-regular basis.

But, most of all, I worry about something breaking on the network at work, something I don't know how to fix. Sometimes it's no fun working in the 911 business.

-- Anonymous, March 07, 2000

In honor of election day, some national worries.

I worry that all the elections will come out wrong. In particular, I worry that Prop 22's lead [the anti-gay marriage initiative on the California ballot] is the beginning of the end. I worry that the country is sliding backwards.

I worry about those parents I see carrying those babies in car seats and never touching them. I worry that that's what they do at home. I worry that those babies will be all messed up.

I worry about the homogenization of the book industry.

I worry about all the birth defects I learned about in bio four years ago. Just in case I have a kid someday, you know.

I worry that by tomorrow I'll have forgotten how to lighten up.

-- Anonymous, March 08, 2000

I worry that I will not be able to decide what I want to be when I grow up intime I am almost fourty after all.

-- Anonymous, March 08, 2000

I'm worried that my wedding that was such a wonderful idea in my head is going farther down the road to Hell in a handbasket each day. How do I choose who to be in my wedding without hurting someone elses feelings? All four of our parents are dead, how can I make the invitations NOT sound like an obituary? Am I going to have a total emotional breakdown at the alter because my parents aren't there? Am I going to lose the 50 pounds by then or am I going to fail at yet another attempt to lose weight? What if nobody shows up? That Little White Chapel in Las Vegas is looking SO good right now.

-- Anonymous, March 08, 2000

"Worrying is like paying interest on a debt you don't owe."

Shyeah, right.

On that how-will-I-teach-without-swearing issue, remember: acronyms are our friends. Just tell people it's an acronym: Sure HTML Is Tough. Absolute Semantic Synthesis. File Utility Command Something beginning with K. You get the idea.

-- Anonymous, March 08, 2000

I'm worried about the surgery that I have to have on Friday to remove a tumor from my small intestine.

I'm worried about the tube that they will stick up my nose and down my throat, into my stomach.

I'm worried about all of the very sharp needles that they will be poking into my body to put in and pull out fluids of all types.

I'm worried about the new scar that I will have on my belly that will go up and down, running perpendicular to the horizontal scar that I already have. I'm not sure if it will be more of a cross or cross- hairs.

I'm worried about how they are going to make me cough after the surgery to clear out my lungs, which will hurt A LOT because of being, well, you know, CUT OPEN.

I am worried that people will not visit me while I am in the hospital for a week... I am worried that they will.

I'm worried that my mom will drive me crazy before I have healed enough that I can send her home.

I'm worried that my dad will not visit because my mom drives him crazy (and I can empathize with this).

I am worried and scared scared scared because this all happened so fast and I feel very alone, even though I have lots of friends who love me and call me, but they don't realize that when they call, I am fine... it's in the night or early morning when I just break down and can't handle it anymore.

I am worried that no one will find these scars attractive. I worry that I will be alone for the rest of my life... and that it almost sounds preferable to having to show these scars to someone else.

Geez... I knew I was worried, but I didn't realize HOW worried. Thanks for letting me unload.

--twq

-- Anonymous, March 08, 2000

If you really want to worry, have kids. Then you will worry about all of the above befalling you, plus on behalf of your kids you worry about it. That's all of the above to whatever exponent is relevant to the number of children you have= W3 in my case.

-- Anonymous, March 08, 2000

i worry that i'll always be depressed, never get better, and run my hubby off.

i'm worried that i'll stay in this job forever. data entry can only be so fun for so long.

i'm worried that my aunt is going to die and her twin (my stepmom) will be so upset that she'll get cancer again.

i'm worried that my sister-in-law's baby is not going to make it.

i'm worried about money. i pretend i'm not.

i'm worried that the things i told my stepmom about my dad this weekend will ruin our relationship forever.

i'm worried that i'm really not that creative and people laugh at me b/c i think i am.

i'm worried that my therapist doesn't like me.

i'm worried that we will move overseas and i'll have babies and my family won't be around to visit.

i'm worried that life really doesn't, in the end, matter, so fuck it all, you know?

therapy appt. in 45 min.

-- Anonymous, March 08, 2000

I worry that I'm about to write out my worries in an attempt to validate them.

I worry that my fear of failure will keep me from success.

I worry about him not loving me as much as he says he does.

I worry that he DOES love me as much as he says he does.

I got the link to this page from a friend's web site. I worry that he'll come here and recognize my name.

I worry that the other friends who go to his site everyday will do the same.

I worry that those last worries were probably put up there in a vain attempt at recognition.

I worry that my uneven breasts and not-so-perfect teeth will make the aesthete cringe.

It worries me that I love an aesthete.

It worries me more that *I'm* an aesthete.

I worry that I'll grow up to be exactly like my mother.

I worry that the man who raped me is out there killing some other girl's trust and security.

I worry that if he is, it's somehow my fault.

I worry about emotional detachment. Why don't I feel things when other people do? Why can't I relate to people? Why don't I understand why people feel the way they do? Will I ever feel strongly about ANYTHING?

I worry that I like the detachment and use it to keep from getting hurt. Again.

I worry about my worry dolls. I lost them when I moved.

I worry about plane crashes. Why does everyone close to me have to fly?

I worry that I'm NOT scared of spiders. Other people worry about the ones they can't see in their house..I wonder why the ones I DO see won't let me pick them up.

I worry about money. All the time.

I worry that my list of worries is getting too long, so I'm going to stop now and try to find my worry dolls.

-- Anonymous, March 08, 2000

I'm worried about not being worried about anything

-- Anonymous, March 08, 2000

Marsha was absolutely right in her comments: "If you really want to worry, have kids." I also have three kids. You worry when they are babies, why are they crying, is it colic, are they sick, are they hurt? And continues as they learn to walk and can wander away and get hurt... and then they go to school and you worry about them in school and then they get driver's licenses and you worry and then they apply to colleges and you worry and.... etc., etc.... My youngest are 14 and 17 (but in May they'll be 15 and 18) and my eldest is 31... and I still worry about all three of them and I will no doubt continue to worry about them until my last breath.

It's just a parent thing.

Jim

-- Anonymous, March 09, 2000

What if you have a husband who acts like a kid? Does that count?

Because I worry about him plenty.

-- Anonymous, March 09, 2000

mis... I'm not sure... well, I worry about my wife sometimes, so... yeah, I guess that counts *grin*

-- Anonymous, March 09, 2000

I'm worried that I will let the gray hair on my head and newborn laugh lines on my face bother me too much and I will become one of those women who obsesses about their age. I'm worried that I spend too much time on the internet and not enough time out interacting with people. I'm worried that I will never get off my lazy ass and start exersizing routinely. I'm worried that the house my husband and I just bought will throw me into a bout of buyers remorse. I'm worried that I will never have the guts to have a child. I'm worried that I just might have the guts to have a child. I worry that I will always regret not settling down in a warmer climate. I worry that something bad will happen to my husband, my parents or to my brother. And thanks to a few people on this forum, I will now be worried that my house could burn down with my cats inside it!

-- Anonymous, March 09, 2000

I worry about my close friend who is constantly suicidal. It's been a tough time the past 4 months keeping her grounded in life and from hurting herself. I'll just lose it if she takes her own life, I know it.

I worry about a loved one, too, but I'm comforted knowing that she is trying to take care of herself.

I worry that my family will never really stop playing games with each other despite my distance.

I worry that I haven't done all the right things I could've done.

-- Anonymous, March 10, 2000

I worry about my friend. She is the best person, outgoing, hilarious, etc. yet she tends to fall for "bad boys". She has been with this one for quite some time now and she has a blind eye to the all of his bad qualities - which, to be honest, he has more of than good. I worry that she is selling herself short for the idea of being in love. Wake up sweetie - you can't know love until you love yourself.

Robyn

-- Anonymous, March 11, 2000

I worry about my my best friend and her boyfriend moving across the country to move in together for the first time.

I worry about my co-worker being depressed and not loving himself enough.

I worry about my other co-worker being anxious and not loving herself enough.

I worry that we all communicate better on our employee chat than we do in-person.

I worry that the color plotter will never be up.

I worry that I drink too much coffee and eat too many pop-tarts.

I worry that I think about sex too much, and how easy it is for me to separate sex and love.

I worry about car accidents. constantly. I've gotten that call from the hospital and I never want to get it again...."can you identify his tatoos?"

I worry that my friend's amazing book will not find a publisher. I worry that enough people don't appriciate his amazing songs.

I worry that my roomate is going to do something much worse than stealing the plates off of my ex's car if he doesn't find a good boyfriend soon.

I worry that my classmates resent my willingness to make an ass of myself for the sake of discussions.

I worry that my life is turning into a Douglas Coupland novel, only more pornographic.

-- Anonymous, March 14, 2000