When life gets stressful, it’s easy to start playing the what if game.
What if this bad thing happens or what if that bad thing happens.
And once that ball of bad what ifs starts rolling, it’s really hard to stop.
Next thing you know, you’re up to your eyeballs in all of the terrible things that could happen, and you’re completely paralyzed by all of the possible worst case scenarios.
But the what if game actually works both ways. And if you’re going to play it, it’s important to play it fairly – to tease out all of the possible what ifs – the good, the bad and every single what if in between!
So here’s what you do. For each one of those not so great what ifs that comes to mind, for example, “what if the apocalypse actually is coming?” Choose to bring one great (or neutral) what if to mind. For example, “what if everything is actually going to be fine?”
This is about bringing some much needed balance to your thinking.
You don’t have to fight the scary thoughts, you just have to create the space for the other ones too – allow for the full range of thinking to happen.
If this is a new idea for you, practice by writing these down.
The more you practice, the more naturally this process will unfold for you. And before you know, you’ll stop feeling so consumed by all of those negative what ifs, because the other what ifs will be there too.
Plus simply getting those worst case scenario thoughts out of your head and onto paper, helps to loosen the grip they have on you.
Give it a try – in the comments below share one of your new what if statements!
Emily