Fear of the Unknown

“A sly piece of of good luck, which nobody knows of is delightful.” -Publilius Syrus

Is no news always good news? Not necessarily. If you don’t hear from someone for a few days and it’s because something adverse happened to them, that’s obviously not a pleasant experience. At the same time, I do think that there is no reason to fear the unknown. Negativity is born from fearing what’s going to happen next. In tense situations, we as human beings, have a tendancy to think of the worst. That’s normal and even the most optimistic person ever can’t avoid that feeling all the time. What can be avoided is how we approach that feeling. In situatuons where you’re fearing the worst, think about what would happen afterwards. Think about what needs to be done to salvage the aftermath should the worst case scenario present itself. When you sandwich the fear of the unknown between thinking positive and preparing for the worst (preparing being the operative here IN PLACE of fearing), it significantly softens the blows not matter what situation you’re in. This happens because half the pain and grief is born from the surprise of the bad news than the actual occurrence of it. To sum it up, don’t fear the future and don’t underestimate the impact of the present. Hope for the best but be prepared for the worst. I realize that writing it is indeed a lot easier than actually doing it. It’s easy to say, think positive, don’t worry, etc. But the human mind is of course much more complex then text on a paper. So how do you handle it? In my experience, it helps to start incorporating the philosophies in this post with little things. If you’re stuck in traffic while going to work, ask yourself what’s the worse thing that could happen if you’re late? (This is assuming, of course, that you’re not habitually late, which if you are, that’s your own doing). As you apply that train of thought to small things, slowly start applying it to the bigger scenarios. Pretty soon, you’ll at least have control over your mind and approach over things even if you can’t control the actual circumstances. Embrace the unknown with both hope and preparation. Do you fear the unknown? Is your mind constantly worried about the future? If so, do you think the techniques mentioned in this post could help? Why or why not? Share your thoughts and experiences by commenting below on our secure servers.