What To Do If You Are Fearful Of What The Future Holds

Fearing the future can be a common problem. With climate change and disease an ever-growing concern, coupled with the uncertainty of what lies ahead can make it hard to focus. Such situations make giving into fear and anxiety extremely easy. The future is by its very nature an unknown. People love to try and predict and plan for what comes next, it is still an unknown. Fearing the future is common, but it doesn’t have to impact your life. Fear is powerful, but it can be controlled. Controlling fear of the future is a good start towards taking what control you can of what lies ahead. You may not be able to predict the future, and accepting that will allow you to focus on what you can control.

That is in large part a major source of fear regarding the future. The mere fact it is beyond a person’s control tends to make people panicky and anxious. Accepting the lack of control over the future is a good step on the path to gaining what control you can obtain. Acceptance, as they say, is the first step.

The next step is to take a deep breath, metaphorically and possibly literally. Taking a moment to calm down and collect yourself will help you think clearly about the future without letting the fear dominate. It can be hard to take that deep breath with the fear nagging at you, but that’s part of acceptance. Accepting the unknowns of the future will make taking a moment to collect yourself much easier. It is especially helpful for avoiding over-thinking, which can lead to overreacting and lack of proper handling of potential situations and problems.

Over-thinking and a nagging sense of fear can make it hard to think clearly. Taking a moment to collect yourself means a moment where you can think and plan. Planning rationally and realistically is the next step to taking control of your fear of the future.

You can’t plan for everything, and you really shouldn’t because it can lead to over-thinking. You can, however, plan for the most likely scenarios and those where if something goes wrong not having a plan can be dangerous. That is why schools have fire drills and people keep first aid kits in their car. Taking what precautions you can and planning for what you can plan for are a great way to take control and make sure that if something does happen, you are properly prepared. This is especially important in the uncertain times faced at the time of this being written. The more you plan and prepare for what you can, the better prepared you will be for the unexpected. You can’t plan for everything, and trying to do so is a good way to start over-thinking and getting anxious. Planning for the basics and emergencies is enough to gain control and making sure you have a plan in place for realistic and the unexpected.

While accepting the fear of the future and taking control through planning and preparation, it’s also important to think positive. There can be a fine line between positivity and delusion and keeping optimistic can be hard sometimes. Still, thinking positively is an important part of not fearing the future. Even little victories can be positive moments helping to lay the foundation for a more generally positive outlook. Sometimes it may seem like reaching and stretching to find the good, but that’s how you find the little gems you might otherwise have missed. Not every good moment is a big one. Sometimes it’s the little things in life you treasure. Staying positive, focused, and prepared makes it easier to spot those little things. A few little things can grow into more good things, and that means a more overall positive outlook.

The future can be scary because of its uncertainty, especially if matters look bad. Waiting for better days and good news can lead to inaction and anxiety . Instead, you need to take what control you can of the future. Accepting lack of control over the future is important for thinking clearly and preparing for what you can. You can’t plan and prepare for everything, and trying just leads to over-thinking, but planning for possible emergencies and general daily matters is a great way to take control of your life and your future. You may not be able to predict a fire but having a fire drill plan means if a fire does happen, you’ll be prepared. Preparation and acceptance are how you take control and avoid fear of the future.