But I do know that I've been cut down before for appearing to think negatively. When I'm trying to understand how to prepare for something like a trip, event, or perhaps a conversation, and I don't quite get the gestalt of how it's going to go, I want to plan for the different possibilities. ... People attribute grand pessimism to preparedness of that sort. Yet this is not pessimism; when I plan by going through all the terrible things that could happen, or just asking questions to get at how it could go, I'm giving my mind something to wrap itself around so I know what I'm doing. If that sounds vague, that's related to the point: I need the vagueness to be toned down a little, so I can compute, so I don't get overwhelmed by loose-canon thinking. I can only "jump without a net" if I know, say, what I'm jumping off of.THANK YOU. Preparing for things not going exactly as you'd prayed/affirmed/worshipped for isn't being negative - it is realizing that SHIT HAPPENS sometimes and you don't always attract it and it isn't always your fault and it isn't always some deep karmic reverberation. Sometimes: Random. Shit. Happens. It doesn't mean you are a broken person. Just that there is a world outside your narcissistic self-centered view that you control and create your own simulacrum reality. It doesn't mean you don't take a risk or try something out but that you don't act all victimized when it doesn't go exactly according to plan.
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Hi there.
I'm Andy Wibbels. I am working on a blog redesign so things might be a little clunky for a few days. You can learn more about my book, Blogwild, at http://GOblogwild.com/. Right now I'm working in San Francisco at Six Apart where I'm the product manager for Blogs.com. You can add my blog to your Google, Yahoo, Bloglines or other homepage. You can also follow me on Twitter, Facebook and Friendfeed.
I sometimes blog about Trent Reznor (parts 1 and 2), cubicle slang, D&D, furries and fanfic, Fosse, freakfilters, indigo children, The Secret movie, sexy deliverymen and dungeon furniture. Here's my most popular post.
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This is called "contingency planning" and used to be fashionable a few hundred years ago before the advent of pop psychology. It's also called "having a Plan B", due to the randomness of the chaotic nature of the universe, and we puny humans' ability to only perceive the disorder overlying the Ultimate Order of that chaos. And in buying into that perception, even while working the program and fully engaging the "Secret", we tend at times to attract and create more disorder. Attracting more disorder being in the way of humankind's base nature (from which we may rise above, but often don't), having a Plan B just makes good common horse sense.
Bliss-ninnies take heed & give cred to Mr. Ed.