If you fixate on the worst-case scenario and it actually happens, you’ve lived it twice.
Interpretation
Worrying about negative outcomes can lead to unnecessary suffering.
This quote by Michael J. Fox emphasizes the idea that when you dwell on the worst possible outcomes of a situation, you not only experience the anxiety and fear of that outcome in your mind but also, if it comes true, you endure that reality again. Thus, the overthinking and fixation on negativity can cause you to suffer far more than the actual situation warrants.
In practice
In a motivational speech about overcoming fear and anxiety.
I find as long as I acknowledge the truth of something, then that's it. I know what it is and then I can operate. But if I overestimate the downside of something or the challenge of something and I get too obsessed about the difficulty of it, then I don't leave enough room to be open to the upside, the possibility.
My whole life, meeting people is like a blind date, because I feel like they've already seen the video on me.
There are no moments you have frozen in amber. It's moving, it's changing, so appreciate what's good about right now and be ready for what's next.
There's always failure. And there's always disappointment. And there's always loss. But the secret is learning from the loss, and realizing that none of those holes are vacuums.
Certainly people have a lot tougher situations than I've had to deal with. But I will say we are all dying from the moment we are born. This is not just rehearsal.
I'm a dad, I'm a husband, I'm an activist, I'm a writer and I'm just a student of the world.
Our self image, strongly held, essentially determines what we become.
The difference between mercy and grace? Mercy gave the prodigal son a second chance. Grace gave him a feast.
What though care killed a cat, thou hast mettle enough in thee to kill care.
The amount of knowledge which we can justify from evidence directly available to us can never be large. The overwhelming proportion of our factual beliefs continue therefore to be held at second hand through trusting others, and in the great majority of cases our trust is placed in the authority of comparatively few people of widely acknowledged standing.
To know a thing well, know it's limits; Only when pushed beyond it's tolerance will it's true nature be seen. -The Amtal Rule
It is great that even before we become enlightened or generate any lam-rim realizations we are able to offer incredible benefit to others. The person who does this is a very fortunate person and should rejoice very often.
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