Start Here Daily Practice The Forge The Store
The Philosophy
Pillars Tenets Architects Declaration Lexicon FAQ
Home / Footing / CTL-VII-0021
CTL-VII-0021

“Things are actually going well and I'm waiting for something to go wrong.”

CTL · Pillar III — Control CTL-VII · Own Only What Is Yours

Anticipating disaster when things are good is another form of trying to control the future. The imagined threat is not yours to manage — it hasn't arrived. Stay inside what is actually happening right now.

Your Practice

Write down three things that are genuinely working right now. Read them. Accept that they're real. When the anticipation of disaster returns, read the list again and redirect to what today actually requires. Squandering a good period by dreading its end is its own kind of waste.

The Architects

“Confine yourself to the present.”

— Marcus Aurelius, Marcus Aurelius, Meditations VII.29 (George Long translation: 'Wipe out the imagination ... Confine thyself to the present.')

More under CTL-VII

CTL-VII-0001“I'm obsessing over something I can't control.”CTL-VII-0002“My anxiety is through the roof and I can't shut my brain off.”CTL-VII-0003“I stopped worrying about what people think and I feel lighter.”CTL-VII-0004“I let go of something I couldn't control and found peace.”CTL-VII-0005“I finally accepted that not everything is my responsibility.”CTL-VII-0006“Someone I trusted let me down badly.”
← Find Your Footing Tenet CTL-VII → The Codex →