I'm a Tried and True Worrier

I’m a worrier. Worry does not drive me crazy, it nags at me. Whatever is worrying me is always in the back of my mind. I’m turning it over, looking at it from all sides trying to understand it, make sense of it and sometimes fix it. I had a work partner for a number of years and one day I apologized about being a worrier. She told me not to apologize about it because I was usually right to worry and it made me better at what I did.

Many years ago I was on the phone with a client and twenty minutes into the conversation he slammed the phone down, ending the call. I was stunned. I worried what I could possibly have said to warrant such an abrupt end to the phone call. Days later he called and explained that while we were on the phone, people were rushing past his desk heading for the building exit. One of them stopped at his desk to tell him the building was on fire whereupon he slammed the phone down and joined the exodus. The fire was quickly contained, there were no injuries but it was several days before people were allowed to return to work. I was right to worry but I would have never worked that one out without his return phone call.

Something like that has just happened again. Someone I’m working with suddenly, abruptly went radio silent. Over the previous few weeks we emailed or texted several times a day about this project. The project came to a screeching halt. No communication. It’s been a week.

I know I’m right to worry but I don’t think I’m going to figure this one out either. I will just have to wait it out. In the meantime, I might worry about it some more. I hope it’s nothing serious.