Why do these thoughts feel so real?

Some thoughts don’t just feel uncomfortable–they feel believable.

5 Minute Read

You're not saying the thoughts are true–but they feel like they could be.

And when something feels possible, then it can start to feel real very quickly.

And once a thought like that takes hold - fear follows. 

For many that struggle, intrusive thoughts don’t feel like random ideas.

They feel like something that needs to be taken seriously.

Something that shouldn’t be ignored.

Not because it’s confirmed–but because it hasn’t been ruled out.

The Possibility ≠ The Reality

 The majority of anxiety, fear, intrusive thoughts and OCD ruminations begin as:

“With the right set of factors this could occur.”

That often leads to a variety of questions that have a “What if ” orientation.

What if:

• “Something is wrong?”

•  “I made a mistake?”

•  “I lose control?”

•  “I did something really bad?”

None of those are statements. They’re questions.

But over time, they stop feeling like questions and start feeling like something that could actually be true.

A scenario that has some degree of likelihood.

The reason that feels so strong is quite simple: It can’t be fully disproven––at least not to you.

There’s always a “what if” left over. And your mind doesn’t like uncertainty.

So it keeps returning to them - trying to get what it craves more than almost anything else - certainty.

For Instance: 

If someone said the statistical likelihood of something occurring is a fraction of fraction.

You might logically dismiss it altogether.

But for some, they crawl back to that small fraction and say “But, it could, and I might be that someone”

They don’t say this because it’s actually likely.

They say it because, it’s not totally in every single way out of the question, if just the right circumstances were to be there.

Do you see what I am getting at?

A small chance is enough of a chance.

Especially for those that think they have to have absolute certainty to be able to move forward and not be haunted by ‘what ifs.’

Insurace Billboards

I recall driving one day through this small town named Frankemuth, and there was a billboard.

It was for insurance.

The image depicted a natural disaster on someone’s home.

The slogan read, “This could be you.”

Intrusive thoughts, OCD, Anxiety, Fear, they all remind me of that billboard, but taken way too far.

They take a scenario, get you to imagine it, then ask you to go a step further to believe it really could be you.

You begin to feel that it’s your job to figure it out.

To make sure it’s not true.

To make sure that it never could become true.

But, the more you try to discount the possibility and demand certainty that it won’t occur––the more attention the thought receives.

And the more attention the thought receives, the more real it feels.

Truth VS Feeling

You have to learn to sit with the uncertainty, to recognize those thoughts for what they are (OCD, Intrusive Thoughts, Anxiety).

Then, while sitting in the uncomfortableness of the moment recognizing that just because something is possible does not make it true.

This distinction matters a lot more than it might seem at first.

Because many OCD, Intrusive, and Anxious Thoughts don’t just show up as something possible but as something you’re responsible to solve.

Something you have to resolve.

Something you have to verify is not true before you can get back to feeling okay.

Hope For Today

But God never calls us to chase down every possibility until everything feels settled.

Rather, to anchor ourselves in what is already known to be actually true.

And that reveals an important truth: You were never meant to carry the weight of answering every “what if.”

There will always be possibilities that your mind can generate.

But peace that you desire was never meant to come from answering every “what if.”

It comes from trusting what is true––and relinquishing control to the One who actually has control.

You have to learn to take a large breath, label the thought for what it really is––intrusive.

Then, refuse to give it the attention.

Followed by remembering that there is a good God that, even if the thing became true, he would guide you to true security, peace, safety, and flourishing, in Him.

Life has endless scenarios and “what ifs” and you have to give them less attention, and learn to say “even if.”

If you’d like to keep reading, you can find more here → Articles

And if talking it through would help you, your always welcome to reach out and schedule a one-on-one meeting to walk through this together.