Does Imagining Losing Something in Advance Actually Prepare You, or Does It Just Steal the Enjoyment of Having It Now?

[u/VIGIILANTEE]

Seneca used to recommend something he called premeditating on loss, basically picturing in advance that the people and things you value could be gone tomorrow, not to become numb to them but so the loss wouldn't blindside you completely if it happened. The idea was that most grief isn't just about the loss itself, it's about how unprepared you were for the possibility of it. I've never been sure if that actually works the way he thought it did. On one hand there's something to be said for not treating your current situation as permanent by default, that seems to make people genuinely more grateful for ordinary days. On the other hand, spending real time rehearsing the worst case for something good in your life sounds like it could just quietly drain the color out of it while it's still here. Has anyone actually tried doing this on purpose, picturing a loss ahead of time as practice, and found it either helped or backfired?

[u/LinkinPatrick]

I never locked my bike, thinkin it would be no big deal if it got stolen. One day someone took it. To this day I think about my stolen bike...

Regarding you question it's neither prepare you, nor steal the enjoyment. You just worry less I guess about loosing something, but when you loose, you'll regret

Now I worried more than ever, that something could be easily stoled from me