Are you an anxious person? Do you dread all the small and big dangers of life? Do you imagine all the things that could go wrong?
And if something bad happens, what do you do? Do you stay in the situation or do you try to get out of it as fast as you can?
Misfortune and tragedies can not always be avoided and the negative is as much part of life as the positive. But how we react to what happens is something we can influence. Do we stay in the bad situation or do find a way out? Do we feel helpless and not able to do anything or do we manage to get help and find a solution?
Read the story of the young man, who was scared of drowning:
The Master was outside with his students.
They sat down for a break at the top of the steep shore of a river.
One of the student asked: “Tell me Sir, if I slip and fall into the river, would I drown?”
“No” responded the Master “It isn’t falling in the river that causes you to drown, it’s staying in it”
[This is in approximate translation of a story from the book Gib deiner Seele Zeit by Anthony de Mello]