Paranoia

In these difficult times, many of us have become paranoid. It’s the truth. You see people becoming workaholics just so that they can keep their jobs, high school seniors going crazy with college applications, high school juniors going crazy over SATs so they can get into a good college, high school students of all ages agonizing over AP classes, etc. No one stops for a minute just to enjoy life, the way they’re supposed to. Everyone watches their own back, because they can't trust anyone else to do it for them. That’s paranoia. In the Grey’s Anatomy episode “I Always Feel Like Somebody’s Watching Me,” the residents at Seattle Grace have the same problem. They’ve been presented with a merger of Seattle Grace and Mercy West, and they know cuts will be made. Everyone is on their toes, just like the rest of us. Everyone races to the finish line, and those who they call their friends have suddenly become the competition. I’d say that’s pretty much like the real world. Those who are nervous about their jobs are doing all they can to keep them, and have to compete against their co-workers for the few positions available, and high school students compete against one another to get into a good college. But when our futures are on the line, we tend to disregard what we know is best for ourselves, suck it up, and continue working. For example, Izzie returned to work early after just being released from the hospital as a cancer patient. She stood in the O.R. for five hours, and took her medicine during the surgery. Derek offered to allow her to scrub out while they closed up the patient, but Izzie refused. She was dripping with sweat, and looked exhausted, but she refused to leave. “Ok, you know what, just take my wig off. Just take it off. Take it off. Oh, god, just pat down my head. Ok, alright, just put the cap back on. Thank you. I'm fine.” This is just the beginning; once we start cutting out what we really need, we’ll keep doing it, until we crash. I’ve done it, many people I know have done it, but once we stop giving into our paranoia, it’s the best feeling. We get rid of it, and wake up smiling. We’ve completed our task; it’s finally over. We can breathe. “We're all susceptible to it, the dread and anxiety of not knowing what's coming. It's pointless in the end, because all the worrying and the making of plans for things that could or could not happen, it only makes things worse. So walk your dog or take a nap. Just whatever you do, stop worrying, because the only cure for paranoia is to be here, just as you are.”