the cure for the common hypochondriac

my mom cured me as follows:

7-year-old me: "mama look at my toe-- it's peeling. what is WRONG WITH ME?!?!"

mama: "oh? look at that! that's what happens three days before you die!"

me: (ran off screaming and crying... probably wrote a will--- i was obsessed with writing wills at that age)

after years and years of this i finally figured out xyz wasn't going to kill me.

The Illuminated Rumi

Love is reckless, not reason;
reason seeks a profit.
Love comes on strong,
consuming herself, unabashed.

Yet, in the midst of suffering,
Love proceeds like a millstone,
hard surfaced and straightforward.

Having died of self-interest,
she risks everything and asks for nothing.

Love gambles away every gift God bestows.

Without cause God gave us Being.
Without cause, give it back again.

-- Rumi