In writing about anxiety and worry, I have previously said that if one is nearly in accident nothing happened. In fact, that’s partly true. For the one who suffers a “near-accident,” the heart might beat a little faster, adrenalin might be coursing through the body, and emotions might be running high. But the accident was “near.” It didn’t actually happen. Even if one is in a “near-accident” during which two cars miss each other by only a millimeter, nothing happened physically. The cars could just as easily have passed an infinity apart. Perception makes the difference.
What doesn’t happen is for some people “something that happened.” And it’s not just some physical accident that is the focus here. Encounters with others that “missed by a millimeter” also didn’t happen: Avoided or imagined arguments, for example. The problem for most of us is that we often pay attention to what hasn’t or won’t happen. It’s as though we seek anxiety, worry, and a rush of adrenalin. We can be addicted to nonevents that have no consequences.
Think in terms of measurements, real physical measurements, the next time you perceive a nonevent to be an event worth your concern. Missing by a millimeter is the same as missing by infinity.
What doesn’t happen is for some people “something that happened.” And it’s not just some physical accident that is the focus here. Encounters with others that “missed by a millimeter” also didn’t happen: Avoided or imagined arguments, for example. The problem for most of us is that we often pay attention to what hasn’t or won’t happen. It’s as though we seek anxiety, worry, and a rush of adrenalin. We can be addicted to nonevents that have no consequences.
Think in terms of measurements, real physical measurements, the next time you perceive a nonevent to be an event worth your concern. Missing by a millimeter is the same as missing by infinity.
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