What If?

Sometimes we can get caught up in what I call "The What if?" syndrome. This syndrome is inherited from a parent it's main symptoms are a failure to take action due to an overwhelming fear of what might happen. It can be exacerbated by reading to many newspapers or watching television news and current affairs programs.

It may start simply by a comment from a well meaning parent for example. "When I go to NSW I will stay in the national park it only costs seven dollars to stay overnight" A typical reaction to this from the effected parent might be "You cant go camping by yourself, what if you get mugged, bitten by a spider, snake, bunyip (insert fear in here)? The thing is usually I am not worried about these things however once infected by the parent the fear of the unknown creeps up on me and I start to think of the negative possibilities.

I once read a really good definition on fear they framed it as False Evidence Appearing Real. The way I beat this fear trap is started to use the "What if? " question as an antidote to fear and inaction, my approach nowadays is to Ask What if nothing bad happens?
A wise man once said "What if shit was clay? well my son we could make a lot of bricks.