My theme for today is a good one and it is this – Don’t Borrow Trouble.
The phrase is often associated with a verse in the Bible found in Matthew 6:34, which says, “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”
Most of you listening today don’t want to do that yet it seems so many people borrow tomorrow’s trouble. It is a strange thing to see in action.
Let me tell you how this is working out. I’m watching a friend sell their house and this is not a great experience even from the outside. They live in an old well-kept strong secure home that looks similar to the other red brick houses on the street but inside it’s different, it stands out, it’s been decorated beautifully with richly painted solid wood floors, and has solid doors with crystal door handles throughout. It is a lovely, lovely old home.
Years ago, I had my real estate license long enough to know that everyone thinks their house is perfect. I get it but with a 50-year-old home, the buyer has to fall in love with the 50-plus-year-old features. The trouble with the sale of my friend’s house started with the buyer’s realtor, who sees and fears things that in reality are in every old home.
When someone’s always looking for trouble because they cannot trust the process, I think today’s phrase is best, even though it’s a bit odd, our friends and family are borrowing trouble from tomorrow. I admit I like that phrase because it explains what I see a lot of folks doing every single day of their life. So many of our friends are so worried about what could happen that they hesitate to do anything, or they hem and haw and waste time since they cannot make a final decision. They can’t move forward because in their brain something mind you, they don’t know what it is or could be but something could happen and so they stop and then something happens to reassure them that all is well, and they start up again, but this fear will stop them over and over and over it is a never-ending cycle and it is exhausting to watch.
From all outside appearances, it seems the potential buyer of my friend’s place simply wants to move in and call this beautiful old house — home. But then outside influences, whether it be family or friends or in this case the realtor is sure that something could go wrong or be wrong with the home – she just hasn’t found it yet. The truth is nothing is wrong with this amazing old house, but the realtor convinced the buyer to stop because of her fear of the unknown. And now the home is about to go back on the market since the seller is frustrated with the silliness of the situation.
As I watch I want to tell all involved, actually, I want to yell it from the street, don’t borrow trouble from tomorrow I’m sure when tomorrow comes you’re going to have plenty to do but for today let’s get started and stop listening to those obviously don’t have enough to do except they don’t want to be stopped alone, so they stop you too. Your best bet is to walk away and begin again.
Stop borrowing trouble from tomorrow. You see it happen all the time, just don’t let it happen to you. I get it… sometimes we stop in life due to the issues of burnout, maybe being overwhelmed, or your life circumstances changed. Things happen they always do. But as Winston Churchill once said, “You will never reach your destination if you stop and throw rocks at every dog that barks.” It’s unfortunate that so many people enjoy living a small stagnant life. A life that seems safe, but it is boring, dull, and monotonous. For you to be successful, you will have to make a choice either you’re going to live in the bright light of the day or you’re going to hide in the darkness of night.
I choose the bright light of day, and I hope you will also. Living in what Theodore Roosevelt called that grey twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat doesn’t make for a prosperous, powerful life, that only happens when you stop borrowing trouble from tomorrow and you step into the sunshine.
Join me, won’t you?
