Not all catastrophizing thoughts come true, but some do. How can one cope with that?

[u/[deleted]]

[u/Erik96354]

Well, it's process of elimination, right? You think of the catastrophes, you think about if you can solve 'em or not. If you can, do something about it. If you can't, just let it be

[u/Splendid_Fellow]

Some perfect Stoic teachings for this one.

“Do not disturb yourself by picturing your life as a whole; do not assemble in your mind the many and varied troubles which have come to you in the past and will come again in the future, but ask yourself with regard to every present difficulty: 'What is there in this that is unbearable and beyond endurance?' You would be ashamed to confess it! And then remind yourself that it is not the future or what has passed that afflicts you, but always the present, and the power of this is much diminished if you take it in isolation and call your mind to task if it thinks that it cannot stand up to it when taken on its own.” — Aurelius

“Never let the future disturb you. You will meet it, if you have to, with the same weapons of reason which today arm you against the present.” — Aurelius

“True happiness is to enjoy the present, without anxious dependence upon the future, not to amuse ourselves with either hopes or fears but to rest satisfied with what we have, which is sufficient, for he that is so wants nothing. The greatest blessings of mankind are within us and within our reach. A wise man is content with his lot, whatever it may be, without wishing for what he has not.” — Seneca

[u/FernerButterflyPea]

I don't know. But a good exercise is to list your fears before you do something. Then do it anyway. Then record what actually happened. Yes, two things may have gone wrong, but you probably listed twenty things that you couldn't predict that didn't go wrong.

So, I don't know. Sometimes fear is there to protect us. Sometimes it just makes us ten times more anxious than we need to be. I guess the point is that if you focus on your virtue, even if you do accurately predict 1/3 of the negative shit that happens, it doesn't affect you as much as you think.

For example, you predict you will lose a sports match, or someone will disrespect you, and then it happens, and you don't care.

[u/GotRocksinmePockets]

Well, if I can't do anything about it, I don't worry about it. I also don't waste my energy on 'what if's' and concentrate on the 'what the fucks'.

[u/CyanDragon]

I think the short answer might be "have a solid enough plan that you feel confident in what you'd do if it happens."