The Significance in Living Your Worst-Case Scenario
Many ways exist in which we can imbibe and improve our confidence, self-esteem, poise, and depict authenticity at the same time — in our everyday living — most especially in these trying times of a pandemic outbreak.
These ways may prove acquired as opposed to the original ways in which we gain confidence and act as such. This goes beyond the dopamine shots we get when we proclaim something positive or when we digest many inspirational quotes.
But it’s about letting ourselves be and living as authentic as possible when we are going through our worst-case scenario.
A worst-case scenario simply explains in a situation when you live (in) your worst fears. This is when it feels like your life is upside down — with little or no hope.
Everybody has something they’re afraid the most — to do, to be, or to find themselves in. And while a great deal of those things normally come and pass, other times, it’s a constant vicious entrapping cycle and before you know it, you’re letting the situation down spiral in an uncontrollable way hence, exacerbating the situation.
When we find ourselves living in such scenarios, common questions come to mind. What are we so afraid of? And could it be what we’re currently experiencing?
If the answer to the last question is yes, it’s normally the time to fasten your mental (psychological) spiritual, physical, and emotional seatbelts for what’s to come.
First, it’s to confirm that you’re in a mess already. Secondly, that it’s not impossible to get out of it if you adopt the best (stoic) mindset around the whole thing, and thirdly, that you’ll eventually get out of it (through fearlessness) and grow to become a better version of you — your true character.
The First Phase — Confirmation
When you’re attuned to your personality, through various self-consciousness and improvement tips, you would have truly ascertained what your fears and limiting factors are. These are experiences that tend to bring out the worst in you unexpectedly. They are factors that tend to make you appear weak in the spirit and other realms as such. They tend to bring you down to your knees in irresistible ways.
It could be the loss from this pandemic; it could be a setback from an anticipated outcome; it could be physical incapacitation or mental impairment.
When you know what these fears are, it’s easy to pinpoint when you’re living them out.
The Second Phase — Mindset
This is a very crucial phase to go through — which conquering it the right way only helps you ultimately conquer the situation. Your mindset. How you choose to see what’s going on with/to you and how to live through it. This is essentially the most tedious phase when it comes to living and dealing with your fears because it forces you to adopt several abstract ways of thinking and behaving to fully comprehend the purpose of the whole thing afterward.
Mindset is a set of thoughts and patterns that you adopt. In this case, you’re going to have to reframe weakness to strength, a disappointment to an appointment, rejection to correction, and thus elevation. One thing all of these have in common is confidence — and in conformity to a stoic mindset.
Confidence is a true sign that you’re on the right track when you’re going through an ordeal — particularly an unexpected one — because it is what molds your actions towards everything in other areas.
When you show up every day, still trying your best physically by moving your body to engage in routines or other little things that help keep your day productive, you’re confident in that sense.
When you stick to believing with strong conviction, that through the help of God or other supernatural means you draw sanity by, that you’ll make it and make efforts to show it, you’re confident in that sense.
When you avert the pull to pessimism — that you’re stuck or that it’s the end of your life, and keep pushing, you’re exercising mental resilience and depicting confidence from keeping on still.
When you don’t allow the scar that forms from your situation affect you so much it starts to show off in your emotional and physical well-being, you’re honestly confident in that sense.
Confidence, therefore, is the keyword noteworthy when you want proof that you’re dealing with your worst-case scenario right — because confidence is what breeds authenticity and further leads to fearlessness — which leads me to the third phase.
The Third Phase — Fearlessness
What is the worst that can happen that hasn’t already?
A question that only a fearless person and stoic can ask — mainly one who once faced their fears from their worst-case scenario.
The answer is always — nothing much.
Do you know why?
Because you’ve lived your worst-case scenario and allowed it to train you, to tame you and to foster you with the guts to ask such question with every ounce of preparedness.
Preparedness which originated from authenticity as well.
Because when you’re not afraid anymore, you have absolutely nothing to lose and therefore, you’re the best and raw version of yourself — contrary to common opinions.
In such a case, you assume the contrarian stance without fear or favor. You speak your truth without fact-checking it against other available sources. You’re content with who you are (self-esteem) and show it (confidence). You’re not fussed about whether the attention is on you anymore because you’ve been through that in your lowest times, probably still. You’re not expecting anything much.
But in all of that, you’re not rebellious, you haven’t thrown in the towel, you’re not being disrespectful, aggressive, insensitive, or disregarding other’s feelings.
You’re simply truly unapologetic with living as real as you’re and at the same time facing reality.
This is the true essence of living in your worst-case scenario. Asking the world, life, to bring it on.
Because you know that even though you might not fully gainsay that you can be truly fearless for a long while, at least you know you’ve got the stamina (in many ramifications) to pull through — compared to when you were in your safe haven.
The true significance of living your worst-case scenario lies in building the confidence to conquer through both what you’re currently experiencing and future events via three phases of confirmation, the mindset you adopt, and fearlessness.
However, other important aspects lie in the mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual pieces of training — in form of strength, endurance, steadfastness, and resilience you would have gone through during these phases— which on their own, are priceless — as it’s common knowledge that “experience is the best teacher”.
In the first phase, living your worst-case scenario teaches you to learn yourself and ascertain what your real fears are. Then it helps you mold the right mindset in dealing with the situation in the company of discomfort and it leads you to ultimately conquer your fears by becoming fearless, living more comfortably in your own skin (authenticity) thus prepared enough at least to face the world with what more it has coming.
Because deep down inside, you know it’s not over.
But you’ve ascertained that having passed through one milestone alleviates the pain and disappointment — decreases your sensitivity and overreaction to adverse events. It makes you humble and meek and it also reduces time wastage from excess contemplation and instead, action.
When living your worst-case scenario, ask yourself; what am I really afraid of? How do I conquer my fears in such a way it doesn’t paralyze me? How do I make this situation bring out the best in me? — because truth is, it always leads you to a bolder tougher version of yourself you never knew about.
Or better still, what’s the worst that can happen that hasn’t already?
