The-Conquest-of-Happiness-by-Bertrand-Russell

and find that the work has been done. Before I had
discovered this technique, I used to spend the
intervening months worrying because I was making
no progress; I arrived at the solution none the
sooner for this worry, and the intervening months
were wasted, whereas now I can devote them to
other pursuits. A process in many ways analogous
can be adopted with regard to anxieties. When
some misfortune threatens, consider seriously and
deliberately what is the very worst that could
possibly happen. Having looked this possible
misfortune in the face, give yourself sound reasons
for thinking that after all it would be no such very
terrible disaster. Such reasons always exist, since
at the worst nothing that happens to oneself has any
cosmic importance. When you have looked for
some time steadily at the worst possibility and
have said to yourself with real conviction, ‘Well,
after all, that would not matter so very much’, you
will find that your worry diminishes to a quite
extraordinary extent. It may be necessary to repeat
the process a few times, but in the end, if you have
shirked nothing in facing the worst possible issue,