“The What Ifs”

My phone is usually at 67% or higher in battery charge. It’s what I do. If it starts getting lower than 50%, I get uncomfortable. What if my phone dies? What if someone Facetimes me and needs to talk and I am not fully charged and then I can’t be there for them? What if there is a zombie apocalypse? How will I call the authorities? What if…what if…what if…

I go down the road of “what ifs” in reference to my phone but also in other areas of my life. What if there is traffic? What if the water fountain is broken? What if the avocados aren’t ripe?

Leave the house earlier just in case. Fill the water bottle before leaving the house. Buy the avocados three days before guacamole night so they are ripe.

I prepare for things. I over prepare for things. When I am not prepared, it makes me uncomfortable and I know that about myself. I plan for things. I plan for the “what ifs. “

“Coach do you have a band-aid?”

“Yes- what kind? I have 6 different ones.”

“Babe, can you stop and get groceries on the way home? “

“Yes, I have reusable bags in the car and made a grocery list last night.”

 “Sis- will you call your nephew? He needs a pep talk.”

“Of course, I have that speech ready to go.”

Then one day I heard Kate Swoboda author of The Courage Habit and Director of the Courageous Living Coach Certification say, “the what ifs go both ways” and it was life changing for me.

 Since hearing that, my “what ifs” have changed from always prepping for the bad thing, the mistake, the emergency or the problem to sometimes considering the possibility.

What if we win the conference championships? What if my book is a best seller? What if this workout changes my mood? What if saying hello to that person is the start of a beautiful friendship? What if I ask the powerful question that helps a client shift a mindset?

The “what if’s” go both ways. 

What are your “what ifs” that can shift from focusing on the problem to focusing on the possibility? Is there a “what if” that is causing you anxiety or fear or discomfort? Is there a reframe for that limiting thought? Is there an opposite reaction to it?

What if you gave yourself credit for being awesome? What if you saw the best in yourself? What if you saw the opportunities in struggle? What if you loved yourself for who you are? What if you were perfectly imperfect?

You got this. Keep going.