How are your prospects looking?

Do you enjoy the mental flurry that question elicits?

I ask because I notice both in myself and the majority of people I discuss their prospects with that the tendency is to default to worrying things won't work out – it starts with what if things don't work out but quickly slips into assuming or worrying they won't.

Where does this innate mistrust of the fabulous adventure derive?

At least at some level, perhaps the deepest, I haven't thought that through as I'm writing, so bear with me, it stems from assuming ourselves to be victims of the whims of the external world and the invisible presence informing it – and from superstition, superstitious about the way reality rolls, a sense that it's not on your side and perhaps even rather fancies tipping you over.

This is likely a defensive position. If you assume the worst will happen, and if you make yourself afraid of it happening, perhaps you'll avoid the pain of it actually happening because you've already received your punishment – a bit like playing dead during a mass shoot-out.

However, though we don't know that much about how reality works we do know that it, or the way we're perceiving it (because this it is quite a nebulous agent) invariably mirrors whatever story we're telling ourselves about it.

The truth is however well things work out there'll always be a downside. Hence, if you're telling yourself nothing will work out or will only work out by some sort of fluke or aberration of destiny, it's not so much that nothing will work out, but that even with it working out all you'll focus on are the downsides so it won't feel as if it's working out.

The Barefoot Doctor, whom I hear is a pretty sound chap, says, “what you focus on grows”, and I most wholeheartedly agree with him.

So if you continue focusing on the downsides of situations, not only will the downsides grow in your perception, they'll actually start growing in the situations of your concern.

So seeing as it is only all a story and as things stand there are no laws in any of the world's relatively more enlightened regions stating you're obliged to remain committed to any particular story, no matter whom you heard it from nor how long you've mistakenly granted that story validity.

The storyline is genuinely up for grabs in other words. Hence, if you greet every what-if with a confident unquestioning it'll-work-out, not only will you be focusing on the aspects of every situation that are working, you'll actually experience far more aspects working out and doing so far more obviously.

Take any issue that's been causing you concern – it could be an upcoming or presently happening cashflow crunch, it could be having to negotiate something with someone, it could be anything in fact that you'd have normally immediately greeted with worry and trepidation assuming it mightn't or even won't work out no matter how positive you try to be.

Now immediately override the familiar response and instead say (aloud if you can but otherwise under your breath, in a tone of confidence, finality and unshakability), “it'll work out”.

And it will.

However, what if the what-ifs are so loud you find you can't quell the tumult like that? Then you simply face the fear, you play the movie out in the head and no matter how awful the scenario you see, even if what you see is it all ending in tears and you dead as a dodo or battery-less dildo even, or worse even dead because of one, and as paradoxical as it seems, you say, “I vow nothing will spoil my delight in simply being alive, even this”.

Then having bravely faced it you let it all evaporate like a bad smell and in its place, even if you have no idea of how it might happen, you let yourself picture fleetingly yourself say 90 days hence looking extraordinarily pleased with yourself, pleased with your rewards and pleased with the invisible presence behind this whole magic lantern show.

And say, 'it'll work out.'

Because it will, you know.

It has so far hasn't it?