No one really knows the future. We can make assumptions based on past experience and current data, but it’s still a guessing game. And if all the predictions are based on fear, worry is wasted creativity.
Anxiety can limit our creativity. Whether our surroundings make us anxious, or we put too much pressure on ourselves to be creative, fear and anxiety can stymie us. It wastes our imagination when we think about all the bad things that have happened, are happening now, and could happen.
The energy we put into fretting only serves to encourage those circumstances. I have found the old adage, what we think about, we bring about, to be way too prophetic.
Fear and Planning
While it is good to prepare for possible difficulties in the future, fear without planning just brings worries. Worrying just makes the worrier a victim. Dystopian stories of doomsday scenarios make for entertainment, but what good does it do a person if it just makes him want to give up?
I first wrote this before COVID-19 came into our lives. I must admit, it would have been good before that time to plan how to handle a pandemic. However, could we have really predicted the next couple of years? Would we have been able to handle it, knowing we had a tough couple of years ahead of us?
Therefore, could we have effectively prepared for a pandemic? Sure, governments could have done better preparing for such a disaster. But could the average person?
Plus, is it better to consider the potential problems and plan for them instead of just worrying about them? Worrying without wise action brings just more anxiety if we let it.
If you’re seeing the future as a hopeless, dreadful vision, change your perspective. Know that there is still some good. Use your creativity to plan a better future for you and for all of us. That is creativity with a purpose. Otherwise, worry is wasted creativity.
Editor’s Note: I originally published this blog on October 6, 2015. I revamped and updated it for timeliness and comprehensiveness.
