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Imagining the Worst

You know how sometimes something so simple, some thought or idea you've heard before a thousand times or a thousand different ways, suddenly plays differently to your ears? Maybe it was the arrangement of the words, the environment it was said in, or there was a twist or nugget of truth included you hadn't thought of before...and a lightbulb goes off. You get it. This common idea suddenly shines like a brand-new penny and seems new or exciting or understandable or doable.  

This happened to me this week when my brother posted something on his businesses Facebook page (the award-winning Big Blue Moving in northern KY - shameless plug!) in honor of World Parkinson's Day. Many of you know this is a disease that hits close to home for us since our mom suffers with Parkinson's. Part of his post included the below picture:


It's all good and worthy of a read. A fitting tribute to the 1 million Americans and 10 million worldwide living with PD (www.parkinson.org/understanding-parkinsons/statistics). But alas, this is not a blog about Parkinson's, but about a piece of this tribute that grabbed my attention and has stuck with me. 

"Don't imagine the worst, because if you imagine the worst and it happens, then you've lived it twice."

Wow. I must have read that sentence 10 times in a row. First because it seemed so simply, yet deeply, profound. But then to let it sink in deep. Find its way from my head to my heart. You see, I'm a worst-case scenario girl. If I allow myself, I can easily slip straight to the worst possible outcome with little to no evidence. And I know better. I have heard, read, and heck, even said, all the positive self-talk about not being that way. And sometimes it worked. Temporarily. And maybe this one will be the same, temporary. But maybe not.

We all have things we do that help us get through tough times. Prayers or mantras or words of affirmation we use as reminders to ourselves that we have survived 100% of tough times so far. This one will become one of those for me. In addition to being a worst-case scenario girl, I am also bent toward logic (and a slightly dark sense of humor, but that's for another post). And I think that is what stopped me in my tracks with this sentence. The logic behind it. I don't want to live through the worst even once, so why would I do something that doubles the pain?? I wouldn't, intentionally. Despite reading and hearing a plethora of information over the years about all things related to positive thinking (thanks, social work!), I have never thought about it in this way - it is illogical to imagine the worst. And for some reason, stating it in that way works for me. My hope is that when my mind starts going down Worst Case Avenue, reminding myself of this simple, profound truth will redirect my thoughts from hopeless back to hopeful. 

Find what works for you. I don't know that it's something you can go looking for, though maybe that is, or will be, exactly how it happens for you. For me, these moments almost always stop me in my tracks with a proverbial slap across the face. Maybe I'm just hard-headed and that's what it takes. But regardless of whether you read a book or take a slap, be on the lookout for these nuggets of truth that stop you in your tracks and let them sink into the deep places of your heart. You'll be glad you did when the tough times come, which they will. 

Comments

  1. Wayne ThompsonApril 16, 2024 at 3:40 PM

    "Don't imagine the worst, because if you imagine the worst and it happens, then you've lived it twice."

    Yes, that is simple. And profound. That is definitely a concept for the logical minded to hang their hat on.

    Often ruled by logic to a fault, my mind will seldom allow me to become hopeless, or hopefull, in the absence of evidence. I just don't spend much time "imagining" all the worst ways the road might turn tomorrow. I wait for, and maybe even seek, hard evidence. I might acknowledge the potential for a particular worst case scenerio, but I don't dwell on it without evidence. Maybe that's denial. I don't know.

    I would rather like to think I'm just living out two life maxims I embraced years ago -- 1) Most worries never come to pass, and, 2) Don't worry about things you cannot change. I try to balance those two rather head-in-the-sand attitudes with my third more practical life maxim I learned as a kid, the Boy Scout motto -- Be Prepared.

    This all seems to be working for me so far. But then, I don't think I have really yet been tested with, "the worst". Guess I'll find out some day.

    ReplyDelete

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