In the midst of thinking that something would go wrong recently (I’d name the thing, but it happens a lot), a thought struck me that’s stayed with me since: I only think this about the small stuff, really.

I’m purely reflecting on my own experience here, but—with that caveat in place—I rarely think with any sort of regularity that the really big things will go wrong. Some things that I assume to be true:

  1. I’ll wake up tomorrow (and the next day)
  2. Earth will be inhabitable for my lifetime
  3. I won’t be directly affected by civil unrest
  4. I won’t get terminally ill any time soon
  5. My wife will love me for the rest of my life

I think those things (and more), I suppose, because life would be pretty difficult to lead if I was constantly thinking about them, or if I assumed that any of them would be (at least imminently) false.

When it comes to the day to day things, though, I’m somewhat regularly plagued by something akin to self doubt, or otherwise assume that things could (and will) go wrong. A few examples:

  1. I won’t be able to solve this hard problem
  2. I’m sure that I offended [basically everyone]
  3. I’ll probably give up on [this idea I have]
  4. I’m going to sound dumb when I express [thought]
  5. I’m not prepared for [thing I want/need to do]

Of course, it can be healthy to have some of those thoughts, but it can be unhealthy to have all of them, or to have them too often. On the flip side, it can be good to assume some of the first list is false.

Because I (and presumably others) rarely need a nudge to think of the worst outcome though, this is a reminder to myself that I should borrow my assumptions about the first list for the second list.

  1. I have solved hard problems and can solve this
  2. I likely didn’t offend but I can ask and clarify
  3. I’ve accomplished many things and can do this
  4. People aren’t thinking about all the stuff I say
  5. I’m prepared, and it doesn’t need to be perfect

At this point I realize that I’m simply giving myself therapy-via-blog-post, but it’s a thought I had and one that I wanted to articulate. One that I want to remember. To re-read a few days from now.

If you needed the reminder, then here it is. Most of us, I believe, move through life assuming that so many things will work out for us tomorrow. Let’s all borrow that energy for the stuff we doubt.