Are you living with "What if....?" brain?  "What if...?" brain can cause immense angst because it tends to spin, spiral and overwhelm a person.  If you are struggling with "what if...?" brain right now, don't worry.  Your brain is functioning perfectly well.  It's doing its job.  Our brains were designed to scout out danger.  Our brains were designed to startle easily.  The current circumstance of COVID-19 paired with the steady stream of news in our ears provides the perfect "what if..?" cocktail.  The difference between our cave days and modern times is that our cave- day brain protected us and our modern brain attempts to protect us but actually paralyzes us instead.

This is how I deal with "What if...?" brain:  I go to the worst-case scenario and make peace with it.

With my and my loved ones' health, it goes something like this:  I come to realize that death has always been on the table, always, long before COVID-19.  I or any member of my family could get hit by a car today.  It's just that this isn't top of my mind on a daily basis or it would cripple me.  Whether it's at top of mind or not, death has always been an option.  In fact, only two things on this earth are guaranteed: life and death.  Nothing else is promised.  This is the reality.  When I make peace with this worst-case scenario, my brain settles down.

With money and job security, again I go to the worst-case scenario.  We make $0.00 over the next 6 months.  The way I handled this one was that I calculated exactly how much money we'd be out.  Then I made a plan of exactly how we would handle that.  The plan shows that we would survive.  Make no mistake though -- I don't like this scenario.  I hate it.  But coming to peace with this worst-case scenario makes my brain settle down once again.

Here's a twist on "What if...?" brain: If you are going to spend time in your imagination catastrophizing, can you give at least equal air time imagining the most fantastic possibilities?  Here are some examples of where my brain went with this exercise:

What if this turns out to be the most amazing time for my loved ones to grow in our relationships with each other?

What if this turns out to be the thing that sharpened my self-awareness like nothing else could?

What if we grow exponentially in our ability to survive and thrive on much less than we thought we needed?

What if this grows my compassion for others and myself like nothing else could?

What if this presents opportunities for me to create like I've never created before?

What if this is the biggest and best opportunity yet for my business?

What if this is my time to hone in on handling my brain and teach others to do the same?

What if this is so much bigger than money and health?  What if there's a much richer and deeper lesson here?

What if this is my time to prove to myself that circumstances have nothing to do with my inner resilience and resources?

This list of What If's gives me chills as I write.  These what if's create excitement, anticipation, and motivation in me.  These what if's are a call to action.  I love that I can use my brain to live in and imagine the fantastic.

Thanks for reading.

Until next time,