June 26, 2025: The False Future

Fear lied to me for years.

For a long time, I ignored a preventive medical procedure. Just the idea made me shutter.

Doctors called it routine, but I wanted nothing to do with the whole deal. Worst-case scenarios played in my mind. Some people freaked me out by describing the prep like a medieval torture chamber. I almost canceled but finally stuck to the plan.

The dreaded exam?

A colonoscopy.

And it was a breeze. Sure, a few yucky drinks and mild inconveniences, but nothing terrible. Afterward, I laughed. All the panic wasted on something about as annoying as a traffic jam.

I thought of that today when I came across this quote:

Worry is the misuse of your imagination. What if we used our imagination to think of all the good things that could happen?
— Ray Sefah

Anxiety, I’ve learned, means I’m drifting into a future which doesn’t exist. It’s my reminder to return to the present.

In the end, the tube of doom was more meh than medieval.