What If? \u00a0\u00a0The terrible question we all ask ourselves, we all ask each other and we all internally question.<\/p>\n
The question can be asked for numerous different reasons. Maybe, what if I have a takeaway tonight? Or what if I go into town tomorrow?…Questions as simple as that are some we think about every single day without even realising we actually do so. But, that question of what if can be much deeper than we ever intend it to be.<\/p>\n
2020 is a huge example of a big \u2018what if\u2019. With the uncertainty of this year, and the lack of knowledge even those of such high authority in Britain and around the globe had, regarding the big C-word (not to be said, because we\u2019ve all seen it and heard it so much), has come with our own internal what if\u2019s on the remainder of the year. I know I have asked myself numerous times this year \u2018what if we go into lockdown again?\u2019 \u2018What if I catch it?\u2019 Or \u2018what if I die?\u2019. As dramatic as the last one sounds, the news and social media doesn\u2019t particularly make light of the situation or ease worries, so sometimes my mind (and I\u2019m sure many of you can relate) does drift off into thoughts of the most unlikely of situations.<\/p>\n
The questioning can make these larger events, and smaller ones too, seem to end inevitably (as we believe) badly. Sometimes these what if\u2019s stem from much more than global issues, but from your own individual experiences in the past. If you ever experienced a car crash then your ultimate fear and questioning would maybe occur in a car or before driving. These can become incredibly intrusive and upsetting, but it\u2019s fighting these horrible \u2018what if\u2019s\u2019 that you can\u2019t do alone. In these times, I find what\u2019s best is to distract your active brain from the stimulus that sets off its adrenaline rush of questions. Reading, playing a game, baking or spending time with loved ones. Having somebody there to be with can help you to feel less alone in such a large, scary world of \u2018what ifs\u2019 right around our corner.<\/p>\n
I have been so fortunate to have come across fighters of this awful disease, because although it isn\u2019t physical, it really can be an overbearing part of somebody\u2019s emotional life. One particular girl I know has dealt with this for some years. I have watched her fall at times from these thoughts, but now she has created such an aura of strength that those thoughts don\u2019t take over as much anymore. The progress she\u2019s made with her internal questioning of \u2018what if this happens?\u2019 is quite incredible. The \u2018what if\u2019s\u2019 come around now and then for us all, and they still do for her. But, having the persistence to keep those questions a more distant thought in places they would\u2019ve normally come up, is such an achievement and something that should be celebrated and I will continue to celebrate for her.<\/p>\n
There are also many other people I know who feel this every day, and one of them might be you. You could be reading this article, with a \u2018what if\u2019 lingering on your mind right now. However, the reality is that we come across such awful news stories every day, and I can\u2019t lie and say our world is super safe and bright because it\u2019s not. There\u2019s going to be a danger everywhere you go, big or small in your mind, but we get past them that\u2019s how living works. Asking yourself what could happen on your way to the shops and creating this possible scenario in your head is only going to lower your expectations and make you live your life in fear. We can\u2019t guess everything that is coming up for us, we have to let life work its magic. Although optimism isn\u2019t always the answer, it sure does help in these \u2018what if\u2019 situations. So, use it when you can.<\/p>\n
But what if, just what if you end up being happy in that negative scenario you created in your mind?<\/p>\n
What if life just worked in mysterious ways?….<\/p>\n\n
Our Young Reporter Grace gets us thinking about What if?….<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"xn-wppe-expiration":[],"xn-wppe-expiration-action":[],"xn-wppe-expiration-prefix":[],"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[369,11],"tags":[626],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3cThd-5LY","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vanel.org.uk\/va\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22194"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vanel.org.uk\/va\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vanel.org.uk\/va\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vanel.org.uk\/va\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vanel.org.uk\/va\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22194"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/vanel.org.uk\/va\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22194\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22196,"href":"https:\/\/vanel.org.uk\/va\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22194\/revisions\/22196"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vanel.org.uk\/va\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22194"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vanel.org.uk\/va\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22194"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vanel.org.uk\/va\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22194"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}