Why You Don’t Want To Be in a Tranquil State Forever

Story: You’re stuck with the noisiest roommate ever, a.k.a. Worry.

Don’t you hate it when…

You’re sitting on the sofa, drinking hot chocolate and munching peanuts (or whatever your favorite snack is).

Then there’s a bang on the door.

You open it.

A fluffy creature smiled at you.

“Hi”, it said. “My name is Worry, and I’m your new roommate”.

Roommate?! No one told you that. But okay.

You let it enter the house.

You thought: “I better show some hospitality. That creature looks pretty nice, and it won’t cause much trouble.”

Right?

In a matter of minutes, your place had been overtaken by the most shameless soul imaginable.

You hated Worry’s music.

You hated Worry’s rubbish.

You hated Worry’s sense of style.

The atmosphere became loud, stinky, itchy, and overall…obnoxious.

It didn’t feel like home anymore.

And if that wasn’t enough, Worry was a big prankster:

It loved screaming out random predictions at you, to see your reaction.

My class presentation will be the biggest event of my life. Really?

You knew there was something fishy about that statement.

Yet you couldn’t help but ponder.

What if Worry was right?

Of course, you had to do something.

So you worked on your class presentation as if your life depended on it.

To prove Worry wrong.

And then the big day arrived.

It turned out spectacular.

“Oh”, said Worry with a tinge of disappointment, before declaring:

“I guess it’s time for me to go.”

What?!! You could not believe it.

You were going to live alone again!

That was much sooner than you thought.

As the door slammed shut, your face contracted into a huge smile.

Tears of joy flushed down your face.

Life felt great again.

Until…

Knock knock.

You ran to open the door, and it was…

No way. Another Worry.

“Hi”, it said. “My name is Worry, and I’m your new roommate”.

It felt like deja-vu.

Out of politeness, you let it enter the house.

You thought maybe this one would not be as annoying as Worry #1.

Well, you were so wrong.

It didn’t take long until Worry #2 blasted the speakers up, threw its rubbish everywhere, and with a prophetic tone à la Nostradamus, turned to you:

Uh-oh. Maybe that Worry was right.

So you rehearsed your job interview until perfection, thinking of every little detail like your posture and your tone of voice.

Trying to look like the smartest and most professional person ever.

And then the big day arrived.

It turned out to be…

A catastrophe.

Going back home, you lay on the carpet.

Devastated and filled with utter gloom…

…While Worry laughed its way out of the house.

Wow. So surprising. Your roommate had decided to move away, too.

You were alone again, so you felt relieved.

But it was a sad kind of relief.

It didn’t last long, though.

You heard some shouting voices outside, so you opened the door and…

Not one, but THREE worries appeared.

This time, you couldn’t fall into the trap.

“Sorry, you can’t enter”, you said.

The Worries looked at each other, then laughed as if you’d just told the funniest joke ever.

“But this is our house”, said a Worry. The other two nodded their heads.

So you scratched your brain for the best argument possible.

The one rationalization that would make them admit, “Yep, that’s true”.

But for the Worries, it’s like you’ve just spoken a different language.

One of them exclaimed: “Never mind, let’s go inside.”

As they made their way to the entrance, you had no option but to slam the door shut.

Using the few muscles you had, you pushed it.

And pushed it. And pushed it again.

But who knew these fluffy creatures would be so heavy?

The door fell on you, and your roommates sprinted to the living room with great delight.

They made a mess of your house, as you stared in disbelief.

Then, the daunting moment came.

You just knew it.

So you covered your ears in advance, but it was useless.

From all the noise, you started getting a headache.

And in that headache, you saw…

The gloomiest future.

You could intuitively sense that these Worries were going to stay with you… forever.

Eating with you.

Nagging at you.

Laughing at you.

Blasting their ear-piercing songs at you.

Celebrating each one of your birthdays, year after year, until your very last breath.

You could not stand such a miserable vision.

In a state of urgency, you had to implement a once-and-for-all solution.

And a devastating one, you found.

A Worry repellent! That was it.

You bought it at your local supermarket, then went back home.

While these monsters were spinning around, doing a silly dance or something…

…Now was the time.

It only took them a few seconds to notice your terrible crime.

Uh-oh. You awful murderer.

Somehow, you felt very guilty. You could see how worried these Worries were.

Instantly, they packed their luggage and paced towards the exit.

Now you were free again, but you were not so happy.

The Meditation spray made the room smell like mint.

But your heart became all fizzy because of it.

That was not a nice sensation.

So you ran towards the mirror because you felt something was off.

You were right.

Your body slowly morphed into a fluffy grey creature, one that you knew too well…

The Meditation spray was not a worry-repellent! It was a worry-revealer.

You’ve been scammed.

Suddenly, your Worry-lungs could not stand breathing the minty air anymore.

It was too suffocating. You had to get out of here.

So you took your luggage and left.

You walked towards the nearest source of light.

“That’s nice,” you thought. “Why does my heart feel so warm?”

Then it hit you:

A tear of bliss melted down your face as you realized it had been a while since you left the house.

The sun had always been with you, and you couldn’t see it.

What if you just stayed there?

You’d be living in a tranquil state, forever.

But you realized that your Worry-heart was melting. Your fluffy fur was also starting to decay from the sun’s warmth.

If you stayed there for too long…

You would be no more.

That was a scary thought.

So you turned your back and walked towards a place you would call "home".

As you strolled down, you wondered:

“Where do the Worries go when they’re gone?”

Somehow, you missed them.

They were your only friends.