Do you ever get caught playing out endless scenarios in your head? Do you tend to focus particularly on the worst scenarios? Does it make you feel helpless and overwhelmed? If you said yes, this post is for you.

Imagination is typically associated with lighthearted creativity, learning, and play – but it has a darker side. The misuse of imagination can cause a whirlwind of thoughts and emotions that push away your present reality in favor of nightmare scenarios and outcomes.

When you let your imagination run wild building the worst possible situations, you experience the emotions as if they were actually happening. Your heart will beat faster, muscles will tense up, and breathing will become more shallow.

This whirlwind of emotions reinforces the chaotic mental that produced them: anxiety. It’s easy to get swept up into the fury thought and emotion, becoming completely worked up without any real basis on reality!

Back to Reality

The first step in breaking this intense cycle of anxious thoughts and emotions is to recognize that it’s happening, and then to switch from believing in the thoughts to questioning them.

If you no longer believe in the scenarios, they’ll no longer affect you. Unfortunately it’s not just as easy as snapping your fingers, you must poke holes in the validity of the thoughts by asking questions that highlight their lack of foundation in reality.

As soon as you recognize what’s happening, take 10 deep breaths to ground yourself. Focus on long, smooth exhales. A good place to start is a 4 count inhale, a 4 count hold, and an 8 count exhale.

Once you feel a little more grounded, you can begin questioning those fearful thoughts and scenarios.

From Believing to Questioning

The goal of the questioning is to work towards not believing in the thoughts altogether. The less you believe in the thoughts, the less they will impact your emotions and the more relaxed you will become.

Here are some questions to get you started:

• Can I know that this thought/scenario is true? Is there any real way of knowing what will happen?
• What are these fears based on? Are they based on what I’m currently experiencing or is it something I’m dreaming up?
• Why am I so deeply worried and nervous about this potential outcome? Why do I belive it will happen?
• Is it related to past experience? Am I holding on to a fear about something that happened to me?
• What other types of scenarios might trigger this fear reaction? How can I notice when these thoughts and emotions are starting to form so I can sidestep this next time?
• What is happening right now that disproves this line of thinking?
• If what happens in the future is based on what I do now, why don’t I just take the proper steps to avoid this scenario?
• If I can do something about it, why worry? If I can’t do anything about it, why worry?

Through this reflection exercise you’ll learn more about yourself and develop a calmer, more present state of mind. Questioning your anxious thoughts will help you flow with reality rather than being frozen and fearful.

Repurpose the Creativity

Thinking of what can go wrong isn’t a problem in itself, it’s actually a very useful skill when it comes to planning! The problem is believing that the worst scenario is bound to happen.

Once you’ve freed up that creative energy you were using to dream up all the worst case scenarios, you can use it for something more productive like planning how to create the best case scenario and avoid those negative outcomes.

The silver lining of anxiety: it means you’re truly creative! Now it’s just a matter of refocusing that creativity, which is best left to your imagination. What are some creative thigns that might bring you pleasure? Some painting? Writing? Inventing new technology? Run wild with it!

Putting It All Together

Get in the habit of questioning your anxious thoughts when they come up and you will become better and better at managing them. Over time, you’ll be able to get to a place where you see good and bad scenarios as equally valid.

From there, you can choose whether you want to believe in the good scenarios instead! That’s a truly powerful transformation. Once you start spending more time imagining all the best case scenarios and believing in them, you’ll start taking the right actions to make them into your reality.

Remember, whenever you recognize your anxiety flaring up that’s your cue to:

1. Take 10 deep breaths and ground yourself.
2. Start questioning the fearful scenarios and poke holes in them.
3. Repurpose your creativity.

Do you find yourself falling into anxiety through the misuse of imagination? What helps you stay grounded or find the calm within the chaos? Comment below!