In my counselling work, I often notice a subtle but powerful pattern: people dream, imagine, or plan something joyful, and then, almost reflexively, they invite anxiety to join them.
It sounds like this:
“I’d love to go wild water swimming… but what if there are sharks and I get attacked?”
“I want to go out tonight… but what if I get mugged?”
Suddenly, the joy of the moment is hijacked by a “just in case” scenario. And without realising it, they’ve extended an open
