“I’m just waiting for the other shoe to drop.”
I got to thinking about this phrase over the weekend. It used to make a lot of sense to me. I mean, things don’t always work out, right? We make mistakes, bad things happen, and stuff doesn’t work out like we’d like hoped. We “prepare” for bad things by going through mental exercises like these;
“What if the check engine light comes on in my car?”
Then I’ll have to buy a new car.
“What if I can’t make friends at work?”
Then I’ll have to quit my job and move to a new city.
“What if I screw this project up?”
Then I’ll have to give it someone else and deal with everyone thinking I’m not capable.
We do this because we’re really thinking;
“If I figure out the worst possible scenario, then I’ll be prepared, and it won’t hurt as much when it happens.”
I don’t know this has worked for you, but it hasn’t been helpful for me. When the “worst case” has happened (the mistake, disappointment or failed expectation) it still hurt. It still hurt and I lost the time I spent thinking and “preparing” for how I wouldn’t be hurt when it did.
Double whammy.
We’re losing out on life when we think this way. Most of the time our worst-case scenario thinking doesn’t come true. We’re missing the good times where we could be thinking;
“What if this goes right?”
Focusing on what could go right is way more fun for you and everyone around you.
It stinks that bad things happen but we don’t have to spend our energy on them before they do. We can choose to focus on and enjoy what’s going right, right now.
So what should you do when “the other shoe drops”?
My suggestion; pick it up, dust it off, and keep on moving.