Take Control Of Worry

Having some degree of control over our lives is important to us, control freaks.  In our world, the fear of the unknown is far worse than the known. At least with the known we can prepare.  However, the unknown gives us a horrible feeling of worry when we don’t know what’s going to happen. 

Worry develops from things we can’t control the outcome of.  We fear what might or could happen in the future.  Our mind starts going crazy with negative thoughts and what if possibilities. We always jump to the worst case scenario.  We think what if this happens and what would that mean about us.     

Instead of living in the worry, we decide to suppress it.  We choose to push down these negative thoughts.  But, that only breeds more negative thoughts.  Plus, it builds more anxiety and worried butterflies in our stomach. We don’t want to think about the worst case scenario.  The more we try and forget, the more we think about it.  In fact, we dwell on it. 

We question if there is any way we can take control and make the outcome what we want it to be.  Unfortunately, life can be like a roulette wheel.  The outcome can be unpredictable and the ball lands where it may.

Our desire is to have control of the situation.  In order to take control, we have to face our worry.

The key is to imagine the worst case, realistic scenario for the situation.  Play through it and address the worst possible outcome.  Let the mind spiral as the domino effect takes place of if this happens, then what if this, and that.  Think of all the possible things that could happen.  Recognize the outcome and sit with that fear for a moment.

If that were honestly the worst case and things didn’t go as planned, think about what that truly means. We could take it to mean that we are a failure, that we are incompetent, or just simply things did not go as we expected them to happen.  This may have caused our path to change course and we are now forced to move in a different direction than we had originally planned.  It could also mean more work, time, and money that needs to be spent.  All of these add stress and anxiety.

But, acknowledging the worst possible outcome allows us to visualize it and address our concerns.  Now think about, if that really did happen, how would we handle it?  We could just keep going anyway, regardless of how painful or embarrassing it turned out to be.  Who knows, maybe it would make for a good story later, or at least someone would get a good laugh. 

No matter how bad we might imagine the outcome to be, we are still alive.  By picturing the worst case scenario, if it were to happen, it’s not going to be that bad because we prepared for it.  We now know how we will handle it.

In order to avoid worry, we have to prepare ourselves for what to expect.  This is how we take back control of worry and why it’s so important to face our worst case scenario head on.

The truth is, if things went the way we planned all the time there would be no place for worry in our lives. There would also be nowhere for growth and life lessons that make us stronger. 

Choose to take control of worry.  Do not dwell on the unknown and what we can’t control in the future.  Acknowledge the worst case scenario and be prepared how to handle it, if it should happen.