It’s got to be on millions of people’s bucket lists. It was on mine, too. My friends and I were going to Jordan, and my one must-do was to go to Petra, the famous city carved from rock in a canyon. And yet, as we were about to go, I didn’t want to go anymore.
Going just didn’t sound that interesting to me. I imagined making the three hour drive, looking around, being unfulfilled, and then coming back.
The night before, I felt the same way about going to the dead sea. It was cold, and all I wanted to do was sit in the warm car. Even as I paid my $15 and shivered my way down to the water, I told everyone I wasn’t going to go in because the water would be too cold.
A few days later we arrived in Egypt. I tried to get excited, but mostly I was looking forward to our flight out of there to the next place.
We went to Petra, and had an amazing adventure and a great time. I did go into the dead sea and it was, again, a great experience. And the trip to Egypt was probably the coolest thing I’ve done in 2015 so far.
I’d say that I’m bad at judging how much I’ll like something, but you might notice that I’m never overestimating things. I’m just being pessimistic.
I haven’t become generally pessimistic. In fact, as I think about the future, I’m almost universally optimistic and excited. My life is good. Things are going well for the people I love. I think the world is headed in a good direction. But when it comes to activities I’ve scheduled for myself, I’m consistently underestimating how much I’ll enjoy them.
This is the kind of thing I stay vigilant for. Thought patterns are powerful, so they must be managed. Everyone’s free to cultivate whatever thoughts they think are best, but I personally want no negativity in my brain.
The solution is awareness and proactive reframing. Now I notice when I’m being pessimistic about an activity, and I think about past things I’ve done. When was the last one that let me down? Well… I can’t think of any. What are some good things about what I’m about to do? And slowly I start feeling optimistic again.
These sorts of self-manipulation feel clunky and awkward at first, but I’ve done enough now to tell you what the result will be: in a month or so I’ll be back to being positive about everything I’m signed up for, and I’ll stop having to manually manipulate my thoughts.
Be vigilant for thought patterns you don’t like, nip them in the bud, and make sure your autopilot is flying smooth skies.
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Photo is some dirt at Petra, since I’ve already posted pictures of Petra.
I forgot that I wrote this post, but I did start reframing. Now I’m excited about all of my trips, including the one I’m on.
Currently halfway through my transatlantic cruise, and more than half way through writing my next book. I think it’s going to be a good one! Today’s our first port day, in Horta, Faial, so we’re catching up on internet stuff.
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