Halloween's origins date back over 2,000 years ago, mostly from Celtic paganism. It was believed to be a time when ghosts and spirits came out to haunt. To please them, the Celts would give them treats. Halloween is a time filled with festivities, movies, and costumes to frighten and scare. However, Halloween isn't the only time we find ourselves being scared or worried about what may be around the next corner.
Many people get scared and worried about upcoming events, whether it's the first day of school, starting a new job, asking someone to be your valentine, or partaking in a risky activity. Being scared and worried are very common emotions when you are doing something new. We tend to think of these feelings as negative and often allow ourselves to experience them far in advance. We become scared or worried sooner than we need to and allow our thoughts of these future events to start haunting us several days or even weeks in advance. When this happens, we let our emotions to run our lives.
When we think about these "scary" events before they even happen, we sometimes make them out to be worse than it is in our heads. When we let our emotions run our lives before it's the actual time of the event, we may miss out on the good things happening around us each moment. We become too focused on what could go wrong, instead of what is going right, right now.
Here is an example of worrying about the first day of school too early.
Think about a time you were scared or worried about an event and fill out your timeline. How far in advance did you start becoming scared or worried? What good things did you miss out on?
Next time you start becoming scared or worried about an upcoming event, think of this timeline. Remember, you don't need to feel afraid until it's the actual time of the event.