Do you always fear the worst?

The only fear i really have is when my wife does not answer her cellphone, when we are separated.

Not usually, but sometimes.

If there’s something really off with the schedule (whatever that may be), my mind will wander to anything from a car accident to an ax murderer.

I don’t really think the worst, but it does cross my mind.

It’s not a good idea to always fear the worst if you don’t have to? Why putting our cute little hearts through such pain if we can avoid it? It’s a matter of choice. We have the ability to control our emotions no? It’s not always easy to do and I understand that. I personally have always been a positive person. I always see the glass half-full and never empty, no matter what the situation may be. The other day someone gets upset with me and said:“How come nothing gets you down?” My response was:“It takes too much work to get back up.”

Whenever I get disappointed, I usually try to find something positive in that disappointment. The best way to expect the best is to think positive. When the worst occurs, then we can deal with it accordingly, otherwise let’s be happy because life is too short for worries.

I often imagine the worse, but I don’t necessarily fear it.

I think I used to, but then decided it was unhealthy and making me paranoid. Gradually I taught myself to think more in likelihoods. I will consider the worst, but only for evaluating a situation as a whole. Sort of a “what’s the worst that can happen” thing. Then I think how likely is the worst to occur. Very rarely is the worst very likely.

But you didn’t ask if I fear less than ideal outcomes. That’s a different question.

I think it, but don’t fear it or obsess about it. It leads to being either mentally prepared for the worse or relieved. I don’t sweat ordinary things, like people not answering their phone, but for actual problems, I’ve had them, in my head, in car wrecks or kidnapped and the funeral planned. It’s gotten better since I stopped watching television.

I am a master at it, I call it awfulizing. I think it is a form of PTSD.

No news is good news but sometimes when the phone rings I fear someone is hurt or even worse.

Hope for the best, plan for the worst

Telephone calls late at night unnerve me and make me think it’s going to be bad news (like the way people reacted to telegrams in old movies). It’s a fear that goes back many years to the time my dad was in the hospital in IC and I kept getting panic calls from my mother that woke me up in the middle of the night.

Yes, I get into a total panic. I imagine the worst scenarios possible! At some point it was so bad that every time the phone rang, I used to get the feeling that I was being electrocuted at that moment. I hate the sound of phones ringing even now.

I hate waiting for phonecalls for this very reason. If I don’t hear from someone when I’m expecting to, I assume that something really bad has happened.

No. Assumptions are almost always wrong and just lend themselves to anxiety.

I often turn the ringers off on my phone, I control it, it doesn’t control me.

I joke with my daughter and everyone that if you’re dead at 2 a.m. you’ll be just as dead at 7 a.m. don’t wake me up! lol

Obviously IF someone was in the hospital in critical condition I’d keep the ringers on.

@Coloma I’m stealing that line. I need more mottos like that in my life. lol.

@TheOnlyNeffie

It’s true!

yes, yes, yes, all the time… I worry about my mum…other family members…but generally it involves my son… if he is away from me for some reason I worry that something has happened to him…it generally involves him getting lost or kidnapped or having some severe accident… it’s awful and it can’t be controlled… only perhaps reassured….

@Coloma I do the same thing -except, my phone is turned off at 9:00 PM!

I’ll readily admit at my home the phone does not bring good things when it rings during non-business hours. I am the capable one of the family so most of the calls are when someone needs something. Rarely is it a person calling to offer me money or help me with a project.

@worriedguy

Yep, mines off by about that time too!

@Coloma Think back… Have you ever received a “good” call after 9:00 PM? There you go!

Nah, in fact i’m the polar opposite. Expect good stuff & pow, it happens! Funny that :¬)

I try not to worry about things that I cannot control. If there’s something that I’m afraid of, for example having to make a speech, I will try to prepare for it as much as I can and then just let fate take its course. If I start to stress out I distract myself with a book or going for a walk or some other activity. Listening to music can be very therapeutic at times. I had health fears for a time and I kept fearing any little pain or bump…for years. I wasn’t a hypochondriac or anything like that, it was just a fear that it happened once and what if it happens again? I have been healthy for a long time now so that fear has lessened.
Anyway, what I want to say is that those moments of needless worrying can ruin an hour or a day and those are precious moments that will never come back to you. So try not to do it!
I know it’s not always easy. Don’t want to sound all preachy, it’s just, that helps me to be mindful of it. And I do want to stress that I only resort to distracting myself after I have done everything that I can to prepare myself or resolve a situation.

@worriedguy

Not usually, in my case it most likely would be a telemarketer. lol

I never assume the worst . . . I always look at the possibilities and what’s more likely to happen. ; )

Fear usually comes from stress.
I sometimes think the worst because my life is very stressful.