What, Me Worry?

I’m afraid of needles. Yet, this year, I was persuaded to get a flu shot. The week leading up to it, I obsessed; my nerves were frazzled. And, afterwards, I told the nurse how easy it had been. She replied, “Well, it’s better this way - to worry in advance and have it be much better than you anticipated than not to worry and have it be a terrible experience.” While I believe she’s right, I’m having trouble reconciling this with a quote I’ve often shared – including with coaching clients: “Worry is misuse of the imagination” (attributed to business executive, Dan Zadra).

Which is it? Is it a good idea to worry because worry might help to prepare you, or might make what you’ve been dreading seem like a piece of cake? Or because it might help you to think of alternatives to the situation in advance? Or does it waste valuable time on something that may never come to pass, or that’s inevitable? Does worry keep you from trying certain things?

I’ve decided to think of worry just as something to pay attention to: What am I nervous about? Why? And how does being nervous help or hurt me?