What good is it to worry? Worry can take years off your life, turn your hair grey and make you gain weight. Yet we all do it, often far too much.

Well decades after Bobby McFerrin gave us all a temporary musical glimpse at the worry-free life, John Tierney at The New York Times gifts us with 10 Things to Scratch from Your Worry List.

Number 1? Hot dogs. Tierney reassures us that neither nitrites, grill marks nor saturated fat will do us in. Allegedly.

And the list goes on. What will we do if the local news has no IT WILL KILL YOU! KILL YOU DEAD!! "news" to report? How will we function if we aren't constantly bombarded of things we must boycott, fear, eliminate or shun in our lives? I was feeling this after watching a half hour of the nightly news the other day. I made a list of stock I need to eliminate from my 401K, products I need to purge from my cabinets and causes to which I need to donate otherwise the earth will explode. I was exhausted just from making the list. And then, instead of making a list of all the future things I need to boycott, I instead went out and found some positive news. Things that I can embrace and where I can see that by taking action in a spirit of faith not fear results in good. Ahhh, relax, no need to worry and the earth is still turning on its axis. Kids are riding bikes, you can still buy ice cream loaded with butterfat and when fish nibble on your feet it can feel like a kiss not a bite.

In fact, Tierney crosses worrying about being eaten by a shark off your list:

7. Deadly sharks. Throughout the world last year, there was a grand total of one fatal shark attack (in the South Pacific), according to the International Shark Attack File at the University of Florida.

I don't think Ryan Seacrest believes Tierney but, overall, I think Tierney's advice is, much like Bobby McFerrin's, solid - worry less, be blissfully unaware and happy more.

Leslie Wolcott at Green Daily is unconvinced:

Seriously... I appreciate the fact that reporters are trying to lower my blood pressure, but I'm not sure that this is the best way to go about it. The arctic will continue to melt whether we worry or not and plastic bags will continue to pile up in landfills, as they really don't decompose well. Another thing the author says we shouldn't worry about, hot dogs, also have trouble decomposing in landfills, still recognizable up to 25 years later. Yummy.

Venemous Kate at Electric Venom is stressed and asks: "Tell me a good joke to cheer me up, will ya?"

Gail Lynne Goodwin at Inspire Me Today™ suggests being more childlike and writes:

What good does worry do anyway? Worry is like trying to swim across a stream with an anchor tied around your feet. Cut it free! If our thoughts have the power to create our world, then aren’t we just bringing the yuck closer to us by worrying about it, even when that’s not what we want? You can only think one thought at a time, so make it a happy thought!

But then Mary Pinkowish at Healthsifter has a child who needs Tierney's article:

That whole unmarked wormhole thing really caused me a lot of grief when my son was about 8. He read about the possibility of their existence in a a kid's astronomy book, and we spent a few anxious months looking around corners and behind trees for possible wormholes. The experience left me with the conviction that astronomy books need parental advisory labels

And clairvoyant Miss Cellania at Neatorama was following Tierney's advice before the article was published:

I just got home from my vacation, and I forgot the sunscreen, ate a hot dog, and drove around with the windows down AND the A/C on!

However, if you, like Ryan Seacrest remain unconvinced... The Discovery Channel has a special just for you: How Not To Become Shark Bait. Enjoy!

BlogHer CE Maria is laughing and not worrying at her blog Beyond Help.