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Confronting the worst-case scenario saps it of much of its anxiety-inducing power. Happiness reached via positive thinking can be fleeting and brittle, negative visualization generates a vastly more dependable calm.
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Oliver Burkeman (The Antidote: Happiness for People Who Can't Stand Positive Thinking)
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Practice 7
Negative Visualization: Foreseeing Bad Stuff “It is precisely in times of immunity from care that the soul should toughen itself beforehand for occasions of greater stress, and it is while Fortune is kind that it should fortify itself against her violence. In days of peace the soldier performs maneuvers, throws up earthworks with no enemy in sight, and wearies himself by unnecessary toil, in order that he may be equal when it is necessary. If you would not have a man flinch when the crisis comes, train him before it comes.” – Seneca
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Jonas Salzgeber (The Little Book of Stoicism: Timeless Wisdom to Gain Resilience, Confidence, and Calmness)
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A misconception that many people have of Stoicism or Buddhism is that we have to bear any misfortune we might experience without feeling any emotion whatsoever. But that is not the case. Both the Stoic and the Buddhist feel all types of emotions—they are not imperturbable. The key is that they know how to recognize and play down negative emotions and they choose how to react. Emotions are fleeting and may alter from one second to the next. If you perceive that a negative emotion is controlling you, visualize it as though it were a traveler who has come to visit with you to have a cup of tea but will then be on their way. The visit might take a while, but eventually they will leave.
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Albert Liebermann (Ganbatte!: The Japanese Art of Always Moving Forward)