We imagine a lot of things.
Good things. Bad things. Mostly bad things. Let’s be honest.
And weirdly enough, that’s what keeps us going. The strange energy of anxiety-fueled imagination. It’s like we’ve got a little chaos screenwriter in our heads pitching “worst-case scenarios: the Netflix series.”
Tell me if this sounds familiar:
What if I crash on this road trip?
What if the plane falls out of the sky?
What if my boss explodes because I forgot to CC him?
What if they hate my presentation?
What if she laughs in my face on the date?
What if I make an absolute clown of myself at this party full of strangers?
We’ve all played this game. The “what if” Olympics. And let’s admit it — we’re really good at it.
But how many of those imagined disasters actually happened?
Like really happened?
Maybe 1%. Maybe.
There’s a quote I came across once — “I’ve lived through many terrible things in life, some of which actually happened.” It made me laugh and wince at the same time, because that’s exactly what this is.
Overthinking isn’t just a habit. It’s a creative superpower gone rogue.
And maybe that’s the problem.
Maybe the more creative you are, the better you get at crafting convincing, high-budget horror films inside your head. Complete with drama, sound design, plot twists, and an audience of… one. You.
Sometimes I wonder — do non-creative people have it easier?
They don’t have mental scripts. They don’t overanalyze the physics of a plane crash before a weekend flight.
They just… go.
But us? We imagine ourselves getting rejected, fired, insulted, humiliated — all before breakfast.
The thing is, our brains are kind of wired for this nonsense. It’s evolution. Back in caveman days, being paranoid saved your life.
Rustling in the bushes? Better imagine it’s a tiger.
Now? It’s just your phone vibrating… and we’re still on high alert like we’re in a jungle.
Our brains are trained to detect threats. And over time, we’ve gotten so good at handling sadness, anger, fear — we know exactly what to do when things go wrong.
But happiness?
Joy?
Peace?
We suck at those.
No one’s teaching us how to process good stuff. There’s no “fight or flight” equivalent when you’re genuinely happy.
No “law of dance” response.
So what do we do?
We panic. We sabotage. Or worse, we imagine that something terrible must be lurking around the corner because surely this joy can’t last, right?
Wrong.
What if — hear me out — we trained ourselves to be happy the same way we’ve trained ourselves to freak out?
What if we stopped scripting a tragic future in advance and just… lived?
Look, I’m not saying be careless. Of course you should have your emergency fund, your Plan B, your backup career, your retirement blueprint, your disaster insurance. Do the grown-up things.
But also — relax.
You can’t plan for every catastrophe.
You’re not a fortune teller.
And honestly, most of the time, life won’t follow the drama you imagined anyway.
So take your foot off the mental accelerator. Chill a little.
Let life surprise you.
Not all surprises are bad.
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