Are you Anxious? Are you Nervous? - May 2011

Some people ask me if I am nervous about Jen living and teaching as a Fulbright in Macedonia.   Well, are you nervous when your kids play football?  Are you nervous when your kids move to a new city?  Are you anxious when your kids start a new job?

Oh my word, parents get anxious everyday!  But.....

My mind returns to 1997 and  2001; the years when our younger daughter Cass played football.  She played first as a midget and then in High School.  People were constantly asking me if I was nervous about her playing.  Well of course, but.... My daughter had better pads and equipment than the other kids(all of whom were boys).  My daughter was the only lineman playing with a flack jacket.  So, of course like any parent I had some anxiety about my child being in harms way. But the honest truth was my daughter was less at risk than the boys!  With regard to the safety of a an individual player, the other parents had more to be nervous about than I did!

KEEP SMILING -  even if we are a bit nervous!

And so it is with Jen’s  Fulbright opportunity.  Jen was heading to a small, out-of-the way quaint country in the Balkans.  Jen was heading to one of the world’s oldest cultures and newest independent countries.  Jen was heading to a University campus in a country that respects Americans and yearns to experience American culture.  How much safer  destination for an extreme adventure could she have?

So again, I was in a situation where other parents had greater opportunities for fear and anxiety.

Oh my word, it’s not like she was headed to a war zone or  a world of terror.  Actually she would probably be safer there than in most American cities.  No need for fear.

What makes us nervous? What generates our anxieties? 

Sometimes we get a smoother path than the first glance my suggest. 

Oh my word...  this is a minor dose of anxiety when compared to most other destinations and missions!