I took a little break in the last couple of weeks and spent ten wonderful days all over the place. First in London for a bloggers weekend where I finally got to meet some of you face to face! Then Kat and I jetted off to Mallorca for a few sun filled days (photos soon) before I headed back to London to meet one of my oldest Twitter friends Alex and finally spent a few days on the Isle of Wight with my friend Jack enjoying being lost for a bit before heading back to reality.
I gotta say, it felt good to get away. It’s been a weird few months and a bit of escapism was so needed. Feeling rejuvenated, I was looking forward to getting back but now I’m in the throes of a post holiday slump and finding it hard to reassure myself things won’t always be this way.
Alex Franzen recently wrote a great post How To Survive When Everything Else Sucks and one of the things she suggested was to write your Worst Case Scenario. Y’know, what life would be like if things got real, real bad.
So here’s mine. Raw, unedited, just as the feelings poured out. It was cathartic. And now I might need to take some time to assess it. If you are also in a trough of sorts at the moment, I’d highly recommend doing this. Just have a lot of tissues nearby.
Worst Case Scenario
I spend the rest of the year applying for hundreds of jobs, tailoring every application, putting myself out there and getting rejection after rejection (or hearing nothing).
I plough through my relocation fund and subsequently my emergency fund and live a miserly existence stuck indoors, unable to see my friends because I need to spend as little as possible because, duh, I don’t have a job.
I live on two minute noodles and supermarket own brand Weetabix because they’re cheap and I make myself ill.
I have to sell my camera and my sewing machine.
I can no longer afford to live in Glasgow without work and have to move back in with my parents. I spend my days sitting on a remote farm looking at fields, curled up in front of the fire, getting roped into crappy farm jobs by my Mum. I can’t go anywhere because I can’t drive yet and can’t afford to learn.
I fail my Open University degree, I don’t even care.
I never find a job that makes me buzz. I never do anything that helps anyone, or motivate others, or work in an environment where I feel valued and able to contribute and express myself freely. A job that appreciates my worth and pays me well enough so that I can afford to enjoy good food, spend time with my favourite people, create new never-forget memories and get away occasionally.
I never travel, not loads, but not even a bit.
I never fall in love again. I never meet someone who respects me and inspires me and encourages me to be my best self.
I end up working in a newsagents for minimum wage selling cigarettes to people who need lung transplants and scratch-cards to gambling addicts.
I never become a mother.
I stop listening to music. I never ride a bike again, or ski. I lose my passion for climbing trees.
I develop an allergy to cereal. And cheese.
…and did it help? I hope so. x
Oh doll. I totally get why you needed to do this, as you are right it helps to just imagine the worst, then it’s out there and no longer creeping about in the shadows worrying you.
I would suggest however that you now create a list of all the things that are RIGHT about your life right now, all the good, the joyful and the smile inducing. Because it’s this list you’ll wanna turn to to keep you motivated.
PS I’m pretty certain almost none of the things on your worst case scenario list will happen. If they do, you’ll deal with it, cause you’re a smart cookie.
Wow this makes me sad! But I can totally see why you’ve done it. Life will NEVER suck that badly. But I’m with Genna. Can we see a best case scenario post?
Your worst case scenario sounds very much like giving up. Isn’t the point of the plan Z to show that even if things screw up completely, you can still make the best of it? Take the worst life you can realistically imagine for yourself and then spin it into something you could life with.
I think you’re right Ed, it wasn’t quite the quirky exercise in realising my reality that I thought it would be, but it still helped a lot. Positives are up now!
Life without cheese and cereal????!!!!
Hope this helped! It’s always good to confront your fears and say what’s the worst that could happen.
I know its not supposed to be funny…….
I guess you only need a brief glance at this to know that it is SO NOT GOING TO HAPPEN. For real slumps there is also jumping up and down. I know it sounds a bit odd, but seriously try it. I feel it is impossible to feel slumpy when you are bouncing. In fact I can’t do it for very long with out actually laughing. Another thing, a friend wrote on facebook actually. Which is where you are now, is where you wished you would be a while ago. What IS good about where you are now? OH and lastly…. always good to remember…. that ‘this too shall pass’
“Where you are now, is where you wished you would be a while ago.” I like that a lot! That was a real eye-opener for me. Thank you xx
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hahahha… I MISS YOU!!! Where are you?
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This is an interesting idea. I like that it makes me evaluate how likely the worst case scenario is, and it’s nice to know it’s VERY unlikely given even a shred of intrinsic motivation. Still terrifying, though.
hey this is neat.. maybe I need to write my own worst case scenario! I think it’s good for perspective.
I’ve never been to your blog before; looking forward to getting to “know” you =)
I love it. Makes you realize how good things are and that it would be very rare for EVERYTHING on that list to happen, and if they do, definitely not all at the same time. I had a worse case scenario list and everything almost all happened at the same time, in the same year. Ever since then I am very thankful every day for what I have, no matter what happens, because I know nothing could be THAT bad.