Why Worry?

People call me “worry wart”, because I do worry a lot. But I only worry because I want to be sure to include all the eventualities in my picture of the future. By worrying about what bad might happen, your brain will start to think about what to do in the event that a bad thing is really going to happen. Also, if you do worry, and nothing bad will happen, it will be a wonderful surprise — a surprise you might not have had the pleasure to experience if you would have thought from the beginning that everything will be fine anyway.Therefore, if you do not worry, and you always think everything will be all right, you might not be prepared when it does not turn out all right in the end. In fact, you might be so stumped by the fact that it did not turn out all right that you have no defense plan ready for the moment destiny bites you in the ass, and instead of leaving with just a bite wound, you leave with no ass.

Here is a simple example:

Erik: “Let’s go for a walk in the park today!”
Karin: “I’m worried it might rain!”
Erik: “It’s not going to rain, look, the weather is beautiful!”
Karin: “But what happens if it DOES rain? We might get all wet, catch a cold and get sick and miss work and get fired. And then we can’t afford the payments for our house and the bank will take the house from us and we end up in the street, with no food and shelter… Let’s take an umbrella!”
Erik: “Sweetie, it is NOT going to rain today!”
Karin: “Yes, but what IF? Do you want us to lose our house?”
Erik: “I want a divorce.”

You see, with the simple step of PREPARING for all eventualities, you can 1) prevent the bad things from happening, or 2) in case you can’t prevent them, at least you were mentally prepared for SOMETHING bad to happen, and your brain will be able to quickly handle the situation, instead of being stumped or totally overwhelmed by the facts, and hence prevent something even worse from happening.

Mental preparedness. That’s why I worry.