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 was a fraction of a 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, under just the right circumstances, it is not completely unimaginable.
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.’
Insurance Billboards
I recall driving one day through this small town named Frankenmuth, 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, and fear 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 and recognize the thought for what it is—an intrusive thought that does not automatically deserve your trust or attention.
Then, while sitting in the discomfort of the moment, recognize 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.
But God never calls us to chase down every possibility until everything feels settled, but rather to anchor ourselves in what is already known to be 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 the 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 deep breath and label the thought for what it really is—intrusive..
Then, refuse to give it the attention.
Then remember that there is a good God who, even if the thing you fear became true, would remain with you and guide you as you walk forward 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, you’re always welcome to reach out and schedule a one-on-one meeting to walk through this together.
