How to stop worrying about “What if?”

[ThePoint]

How can I stop worrying about scenarios that could ruin my life? 

I am not talking about small “What if” things like failing a job interview or being rejected.

I am talking about “What if” situations that can ruin your life indefinitely. 

Scenarios like being falsely accused, being framed, going to jail, etc.

These risks are always there in most things we do. These are the ones that I am worried about.

I know one completely innocent person whom this happened to. He was framed for something he did not do. He’s served 4 years of his sentence so far. 

Not to mention how many reports there are of people being found innocent 20 years after their conviction. They were in prison completely innocent for 20 years.

That’s just sad and it could happen to any of us. 

How do I stop worrying about such things potentially happening? It’s all an imaginary scenario in my head but it causes me suffering. 

[Razard86]

I use to have this problem for certain issues. I have some good news and bad news for you. 

Here is the good news. It is very unlikely to happen to you. Everybody's life is different. When I was young I thought I was at risk for certain things because of statistics....then I discovered that it was completely false. All comparison is illusion, but hey it can be fun sometimes.

Here is the bad news.....whatever you pay attention to you can attract. If you keep thinking one of these things will happen to you...IT WILL. So unless you want that to happen stop paying some much attention to these fears, unless you want to live a self-fulfilling prophecy.  By the way I know of two guys this happened to, it use to be one of my fears, not anymore. 

I've since learned the kind of guys this happens too have certain....past actions they have taken. Its why I said your journey is YOUR JOURNEY. Unless you are doing some of the same things....you are probably good.

[ThePoint]

22 minutes ago, Razard86 said:

When I was young I thought I was at risk for certain things because of statistics....then I discovered that it was completely false.

How did you discover it was completely false?

23 minutes ago, Razard86 said:

Here is the bad news.....whatever you pay attention to you can attract. If you keep thinking one of these things will happen to you...IT WILL. So unless you want that to happen stop paying some much attention to these fears, unless you want to live a self-fulfilling prophecy.  By the way I know of two guys this happened to, it use to be one of my fears, not anymore. 

Wait isn’t that good news then? That means I can control what I attract by controlling what I pay attention to.

How long did it take for you to overcome this fear? How did you overcome it? 

 

25 minutes ago, Razard86 said:

I've since learned the kind of guys this happens too have certain....past actions they have taken.

Well of course the people that actually do such actions or anything similar have a much higher chance of it happening to them. But it totally happens to completely innocent people who have never done anything bad before. It could be being mistaken as a suspect by a witness. It could be being framed by someone you trust. It could be your clients if you work with people on on one.

[Rokazulu]

This could be seen as a type of abuse of the imagination.

If you are going to use your imagination,
Why not imagine winning the lottery?
The odds are the same.
And yet, one situation feels good, the other situation feels bad.

Edited June 9, 2022 by Rokazulu

[Leo Gura]

By realizing that if you live trapped in your fears you will become a miserable and weak husk of a human.

All of life boils down to fear vs love. Either you will side with fear or you will side with love. If you side with fear you will become a devil and if you side with love you will become God.

[ThePoint]

5 hours ago, Leo Gura said:

By realizing that if you live trapped in your fears you will become a miserable and weak husk of a human.

All of life boils down to fear vs love. Either you will side with fear or you will side with love. If you side with fear you will become a devil and if you side with love you will become God.

@Leo Gura Is it possible to forget about these fears and imaginary scenarios I have in my mind?

I've found that my mental/emotional state of being was better when such thoughts never even crossed my mind.

I think that what I should be thinking is that such dire scenarios doesn't make them any less likely to occur. However, my mind plays a trick on me and says "No, you need to think more about this. Better safe than sorry."

Why is my mind so irrational? I can intuit that there is something wrong with the way that I am thinking (likely why I even made this post), but I can't exactly pinpoint what it is. There is something that I am not seeing here.

 

7 hours ago, Rokazulu said:

This could be seen as a type of abuse of the imagination.

If you are going to use your imagination,
Why not imagine winning the lottery?
The odds are the same.
And yet, one situation feels good, the other situation feels bad.

@Rokazulu I don't feel like the odds are the same. I do think that makes sense though. I should just focus on thoughts that make me feel good rather than instill fear in me? Fear is an emotion after all right?

[Hello from Russia]

5 hours ago, Leo Gura said:

By realizing that if you live trapped in your fears you will become a miserable and weak husk of a human.

All of life boils down to fear vs love. Either you will side with fear or you will side with love. If you side with fear you will become a devil and if you side with love you will become God.

Do you ever fear you might get killed because of your content?

[xbcc]

5 hours ago, Leo Gura said:

By realizing that if you live trapped in your fears you will become a miserable and weak husk of a human.

All of life boils down to fear vs love. Either you will side with fear or you will side with love. If you side with fear you will become a devil and if you side with love you will become God.

Jesus, this is so profound! This could be the ultimate guideline in life. Thanks so much!

[ThePoint]

@Leo Gura

Another thing that these fears make me think is: "Imagine this happened to me. All of that hard work and sacrifice on building up my life and working to become a millionaire/financialy free for the past 10-20 years would have been for nothing."

Is this irrational and/or delusional? Let's say that did actually happen. Would it truly have all been for nothing?

[Rokazulu]

3 hours ago, ThePoint said:

 

@Rokazulu I should just focus on thoughts that make me feel good rather than instill fear in me?

Right.

You have more control than you think.

[hyruga]

Understand that life is short. Why care so much?