We spend so much of our lives fretting, hassling, and stressing about things that may not even happen. Why don’t we look forward to the good things in life, and make them happen instead? By Dave Luis
Anxiety. Check.
Fear. Check.
Panic. Check.
And it’s only 3:30am.
What if I miss that critical production deadline? What if my day gets filled with meetings and I get no work done? What if there’s a ton of traffic on the N2 and I’m late for work? What if I run out of petrol on the way to work? What if I run short of cash this month? What if my brother’s blood pressure issue really IS serious and something happens to him? What if I forget to brief the designer on the new content for next month? What if my boss hates my ideas for a new campaign?
And now it’s 3:40am and sleep is obviously not going to be a ‘thing’ for another 24 hours, at least.
This is my daily ritual of fear and anxiety. It’s pretty disruptive, probably building up that nasty stress chemical that doctors keep saying is so bad for me.
But you get it, right? We’re constantly in flux, wondering when the next disaster, missed deadline or payment shortfall is going to derail our lives and send stress levels shooting through the roof. Worrying about the next drama. The next issue. The next interruption, late delivery, distraction, the huge workload – it all adds up to butterflies in the stomach. Butterflies of chaos! What if I get an ulcer? (See? There it goes again…)
Hearing all this, my sister told me about something she’d read in a motivational book. “We’re always asking ‘What if the worst thing happens?’ and we spend our days worrying about stuff that never actually happens. Why would you do that to yourself?”
Hmm. Yes, well, sometimes those things DO happen.
“Do they? Really? You tell me when last some disaster like the ones you mentioned happened?” she asked.
Well, the other day I had to change all my content.
“All of it? Every single piece? Every line of copy? Every image?”
Well, no. Some images changed. The copy was made tighter, more readable.
“So it was made better? And not ALL of it was changed, then?”
No. But other things happen.
“Yes. Of course they do, but you don’t have to spend your every waking moment almost willing bad situations into existence, right? What if you started thinking differently? What if, instead of thinking ‘What if the worst was to happen?’ you started thinking ‘What is the best that could happen?’ What then?”
So. Instead of ‘What if..?’ bringing you down, what if you made your ‘What if…?’ raise you up? What if you changed your expectations of your day? What’s the worst that can happen? More like what’s the best that could happen?
My sister is always on about things like this. It comes from reading so many of those life-affirming, positive thinking books and apps. I always used to think they were silly and a waste of time. Until she got breast cancer – and never let her mood or sunny disposition falter for a second. She willed us all into thinking only positive thoughts, willing her healing to take place. She believed she was getting the best possible care from the best possible doctors, in the best possible place. It was a lesson to us all, and when the doctors said she was clear of cancer, a year later, it was no surprise to her.
She’s proved her point rather well on the power of positive thinking. So I am going to take a leaf from her book on life, and I’m going to ‘What if…?’-up my life.
What if today all my ideas were good enough to be chosen for a campaign strategy?
What if today I submitted my assignments, content calendars and articles well ahead of deadline?
What if today the traffic was free flowing and I was early for work, and home earlier than normal?
What if today was just all-round great?
What if…? What’s the best that could happen? Let’s try it, and see.
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