As teens, my buddy Steve and I shared a subscription to Mad magazine. It was an off-beat comic book that was ironic and funny—just the thing for two boys trying to figure out the world and their place in it.
The cover-boy hero (above) was a young man named Alfred E. Neuman. “What, me worry?” was his take on existence. The combination of his words and his face implied a serene idiocy, a kid who approached his life without a thought about the road ahead.
Steven and I are a bit older now—say, more than half a century. Though I can’t speak for him, we have changed a bit. We learned Alfred E. Neuman wasn’t an idiot after all. He realized that time is always short and one must make the best possible use without letting trepidation get in the way.
Beyond periods of productive consideration of his world and his life, Alfred might have also recognized that worry should be replaced by action. Wringing one’s hands, sweating in the face of a challenge, and losing sleep night after night are unproductive. Taking steps toward changing your circumstances offers at least a partial sense of control.
If he was troubled, I imagine Al chose to address what lay ahead, do his best, and not look back in regret. Despite this, I’m guessing no reader of Mad recognized him as a visionary and guide to how best to live.
We missed something.
Worry and the anxiety that follows from it are like glue. We walk along, step on the sticky spot, and get stuck. Distraction sometimes works to undo the spiraling cycle of dread; a favorite TV show might free us, shopping can provide the same service, but the sticky spot is still there, waiting patiently for us to return to its grip.
The Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies (ABCT) offers this worksheet on mastering Worry. Small steps help reduce apprehension and anguish and make them manageable.
Robert Wu, a Chinese researcher based in Shanghai, wrote this for the April 19, 2025, New York Times:
Recurring periods of hardship in Chinese history have embedded in the nation’s psyche a capacity for endurance and fortitude. The phrase for this is “chi ku” or “eat bitterness.”
I prefer something sweet. Take a breath and remember all you have already triumphed over and everything you feared that never occurred. Your survival proves you have much of the “right stuff.”
Some self-distraction is necessary to enhance one’s life. Then, take those baby steps that will help dissolve your worry and make a difference when possible.
I hope Helena Bonham Carter’s funny reading of Mary Oliver’s poem “I Worried a Lot” boosts you.
Consider it a momentary antidote for the strange time in which we live.
