The 'what ifs'

[anxietythroughtheroof]

This is health specific for me. I'm not one to worry about 'what if I left the oven on' or 'what if I embarrass myself' etc.

However anxiety around health is exhausting me.

Today's example (and what prompted me to make this post) my partner told me that someone he knows is ill with D&V. And immediately my brain starts worrying about my children getting something like this at school this week and missing a big event we have book for next weekend. There is no correlation. This person does not have children in the school. It just put the idea in my head and now I can't stop thinking about it!

I know I can't just switch this off, but any tips for dealing with it better gratefully received

Yes. Absolutely agree. It will be sad, but we'll rearrange it for whenever the venue can and we'll be fine. We'll make the day special in some other way even if poorly. I know this.

I just keep going over things trying to predict the future. What are the chances we'll have to cancel. Etc etc. It's hard to quiet down the crew at the moment!

It might be that your crew is (mistakenly) trying to protect you from unforeseen disasters by worrying about all and every possibilities. The truth is that, for all of us, something happens every day that we could not have predicted when we woke up. (I fell over yesterday and bruised my hip - did I see that coming? Nope!)

Encourage your crew to concentrate on the present and all the wonderful little things you see or hear every day - the glimmers - that it might ignore in it's rush to get to the future.

Yes you're right. Thank you as always. I knew this thread would help me again

I was very worried in the leadup to builders ripping out an old kitchen. About all sorts. I planned meticulously. I cleared everything I moved things tireslessly. I worried about pipes and mouse droppings and dry rot and them scratching the relatively new floor. On the day one of the people asked me unexpectedly if he could get an old rubble sack from the garage to put broken tiles in. I gave him the key not realising a tom cat had sprayed that area of garage (cat flap into garage). Whole kitchen now has cat pee smell from rubble sacks on floor. Would it ever leave the fabric of the house...had it seeped into the very grout?
Who could possibly have anticipated that particular thing going wrong???!!!
I have to laugh now a day later. And the smell has gone luckily.
Something else will come up tomorrow but it will always be what you least expect.

i think i need strategies to empower the captain, but the captain is being sabottaged by the crew!

@RelocatingtoFrance that made me laugh. I think mine is being sabotaged too today!

But @Eyesopenwideawake I right. This afternoon I really tried to enjoy the things that happened this afternoon. My cup of tea in peace with my book as the children were both out after school. The joy in DS voice as he told me all about his play date. It did help a lot.

I know tomorrow once he's off at school again I will be feeling anxious and will spend a large part of the day wondering if he's okay. But I have a couple of things to look forward to and will try to keep myself in the present and enjoy them