Worry is interest paid on trouble before it is due.
—William Ralph Inge

Another aspect that makes the what-if game especially stressful is that it invariably involves the future or the past. We, however, remain firmly rooted in the present. This makes worrying about what has already occurred or has yet to unfold both wasteful and ineffective. In fact, it does little more than to thin out our emotional wallets.

For instance, as Paul flew aloft at 30, 000 feet, worrying about the possibility of the plane crashing, he was expending massive amounts of emotional capital. When the plane landed successfully, however, it was apparent that his money had been spent in vain. Now, suppose the unthinkable had occurred and the plane is rapidly losing altitude and plummeting out of control. Under these circumstances, Paul, along with the rest of us on board, will quickly spend whatever emotional money he has. For Paul, however, this is the second payment. The first being when he only worried about the possibility of a crash.

What it boils down to is that Paul was simply not making the best use of his emotional capital by worrying about something that was clearly beyond his control We're generallly better off dealing with what is and minimizing our expenditures about what might be.

Someone once told me that worrying was helpful because it prepared her for the future. My reply, then and now, is to avoid confusing worry with preparation. The latter helps you deal with a possible event while the former engages you in emotional spending that cannot alter the situation. Remember this simple rule of thumb: preparation decreases anxiety whereas worrying increases anxiety. Confusing them will only add to your debt.