Are you scared of what might be just around the corner?

It seems as if we have a lot to be afraid of:

From virulent bird flu, to comet collisions. Rising sea levels, monetary meltdown, ect, the things we can't control. But I'm thinking on a more personal level.

I sat on a bus today and watched who got on and who got off, and studied their behaviour, and studied their bags, their luggage...

I got to thinking; Are we all simply rushing towards a set fate?
Could we ever escape it?

I fear the distant future. Does anyone else share a similar anxiety?

yes i fear the future too. the world we live in is getting worse with all the crime and killings.i was mugged 9 years ago and still will not go out on my own in the evenings.i have all the doors locked in my house when i am on my own even though i have got a dog that would go crazy if a stranger came into house.our house is never left without anyone in it. my hubby and i never go out together unles we get a house sitter.

Deavon ,

Well , about domestic-type crime , you're right-------I feel sure things are getting worse.I can't see a quick solution to that as the two main political parties seem unable to do anything effective and the Liberals will be even less effective , if they ever got in , I think.
It's possible that things will get worse and worse until vigilante groups start to operate ; it's anybody's guess if they'll be able to do the necessary.
But , the formation of vigilante groups MAY persuade whichever government is in power at that time , that they must now take REALLY tough measures to tackle crime. If governments are scared that they'll lose popularity by being extremely tough on violent crime , drug-pushers......etc......why on earth don't they hold a referendum and see what people think ? Are they frightened of what the B.B.C. and the Guardian might say ?
On the , "living with terror " question , I think , despite the recent London bombings , that ,overall , we have less to fear than at any time since 1945.
For 45 years we all lived with the fear that an incident in Berlin [or indeed anywhere!] could trigger off a world-shattering nuclear war. Remember there was no ,"hotline" between Moscow and Washington until the Cuban crisis shocked them into getting one-----------and even that didn't guarantee peace.All over the world , at intervals , there were small-medium sized wars going off.
From the 1960's onwards , we had various terrorist groups operating , both within the U.K and Europe. The I.R.A. killed more in one attack than in all 4 blasts in London. Then we had the Angry Brigade , terrorist groups fighting each other , the Red Brigade the Beider-Meinhoff group and some I've probably forgotten. So at one time we had the nuclear threat AND the terrorist threats in parallel ! If you think Bush is aggressive , I would read , e.g. Gen. McArthur's bigraphy or Kruschov"s antics ["The West. We will bury you "].
So , with all due respect , if there 's any worrying to do , we're all much more likely to be victims of home -grown thugs than terrorists ; not much consolation , I know !

p.s. Deavon
On the disease question , well the Influenza outbreak in 1919 killed more people than the 1st.World War did and the Asian 'Flu in the '60's killed a good few too. The London , "smogs" were reputed to polish off about 5,000 elderly people a year.
So far , we haven't had anything like that for a good few years !

If it happens, it happens, why worry about tomorrow live for today...... all we can do is try to make the world a better place while we are here, stand up for what is right, and try to leave this world so it can look after of children.....
life is for the living... but someone always spoils it.........
Be good towards other people and be kind to our planet, dont let gread overtake the important things in life...... the best things in life are free..... the future is in our own hands.

I think that in every age people have been scared by the future and maybe that is why we have religion.

You could send yourself crazy dwelling on all the bad things that could happen.

In my mind the only way is to be positive, live right, treat everyone right and get on with life.

You cannot live forever and s**t will happen.

Everyone has to get over it and move on, life is too short to worry about terrorists, druggies, crims etc. to spoil your life.

Happy Days Ahead!

You might find it comforting to know that every human that has ever lived; living in good times or bad; through war or peace; has feared the future.

But humanity has skipped through in pretty good shape hasn’t it?. The billions of people throughout history who have said that the world is going to come to an end (and they say it every generation!) have been proved wrong.

And it will continue. You grandchildren will be sat here in fifty year time using mental keyboards to tap into the fifth generation Republic of Sheffield forum, starting clichéd thread’s just like this very one, and saying things like:

Things aren’t as great as they used to be…………..

I try not to worry about the things we really cant change. After 9/11 i became paranoid and used to be highly suspicious. However my father died very suddenly (he was very healthy) last year at the age of 47. Since then I have realised that life is way too short and precious to be spent worrying about some things we have no power over.

We should try to be vigilant etc against the people who are bent on destruction, but we should not commit more time to worrying about it. It seems morbid and almost defeatist (if that is a word)to admit, but if these people/organisation are determined to cause misery, then they will find a way to suceed.

I say it again, life is so precious and cannot be wasted. Live life as proud as ever. I try to think in the "we will not be beaten" vein. Try to show that scare and terror tactics will not work.

If we all become too scared and paranoid then they will have won.

I am definitely less worried about a terrorist attack than I am about being killed crossing the road or falling in the shower. I think these things are much more likely to happen to me. I'm a bit clumsy you see.

Originally posted by kathythebean
I am definitely less worried about a terrorist attack than I am about being killed crossing the road or falling in the shower. I think these things are much more likely to happen to me. I'm a bit clumsy you see. Yes and your shower is a death trap.....

.... god, did i just say that out loud?:o

I think Foxycoxy's remarks sounded very sincere and from the heart.
Also , they were a very good summing-up of how best to deal with things like terrorist attacks and even non-man made disasters

No more scared of the future than I've ever been or ever will be.

Whether we like it or not our future is approaching at the rate of 24 hours per day. :)

Just live your life and don't let yourself be scared by what happens around us. Be concerned, but resist the temptation to let concern become a paralysing fear. If you're scared, don't let that fear become hatred.

Do something FOR the future. Have kids, keep pets, save money for a rainy day. Write a book, plant a garden, make the place better than it was when you woke up this morning. If you do that then you're starting to change the future to one to be embraced rather than feared.

Joe

Although I was quite young at the time, I well remember the Cuban missle crisis. Probably the most scariest thing that has happened in my lifetime.

The London bombs don't scare me. In some way that is easy to say - as I don't live in the capital city. But it will not alter my attitude to life, and I will continue to get on with it irrespective of the atrocities that have just occurred. I didn't let the IRA bombings scare me, and whoever is behind this atrocity (and 9/11, and Madrid and Bali) will not scare me into inactivity or a defeatist mentality.

So, no, I am not scared of what is round the corner. I will adopt JoePritchard's maxim, and do something for the future. Indeed, I am going to volunteer my services to a charity that helps teach English to refugees. My thanks to Hels for putting me in touch with the relevent organisation.

Red

I'll just check my knickers again....yup...I'm still a medium!

I predict that Bush and Blair working together will achieve world peace and buy everyone a coke...

I further predict when that happens friendly intelligent aliens will land and give us some stunning graphically enhanced x-box games

Chavs will fall out of fashion, instead all youths will go for the clean cut boy/girl-next-door look and modify their behaviour accordingly

Everyone will become vegetarian...it will become fashionable for celebrities to adopt a stock animal

Britney Spears will abandon her singing career in favour of becoming a full time mum. Her children will be unable to sing a note

Margaret in Darnall, there's a fiver under the sofa. Buy fags with it....it'll help you keep your temper later

There's another message coming through... It's for someone to get off this forum and go do something constructive instead....it's not clear yet who........oh!

Originally posted by Deavon
Are you scared of what might be just around the corner?

It seems as if we have a lot to be afraid of:

From virulent bird flu, to comet collisions. Rising sea levels, monetary meltdown, ect, the things we can't control. But I'm thinking on a more personal level.

I sat on a bus today and watched who got on and who got off, and studied their behaviour, and studied their bags, their luggage...

I got to thinking; Are we all simply rushing towards a set fate?
Could we ever escape it?

I fear the distant future. Does anyone else share a similar anxiety?

society is going down the pan. Has been for years.

No point in worrying about hte future or what might happen tomorrow. You can ruin your life by overthinking "dangers"

just get on with it. whatever happens will happen regardless of you worrying about it or not..

We all have one thing in common....at some point we will all die, so whilst we are here lets just be happy and to hell with the doom and gloom merchants.

Look on this as just another day closer to the crematorium :D

Thanks for all these replies, they have really cheered me up.

Originally posted by JoePritchard
...If you're scared, don't let that fear become hatred.

Do something FOR the future. Have kids, keep pets, save money for a rainy day. Write a book, plant a garden, make the place better than it was when you woke up this morning...

Joe


Don't know about the 'kids' bit Joe, but all the rest is sound advice. Thank you.

Originally posted by Deavon
Thanks for all these replies, they have really cheered me up.




Don't know about the 'kids' bit Joe, but all the rest is sound advice. Thank you.

Well, you know what I mean.... ;)

I have my doubts about rugrats myself. :)

It's always good to remind yourself that 99% of what you worry about, never happens!


If your retired remember there's no pockets in a shroud, so get it spent and live a little whilst you have got the chance.


Happy Days!

today's kids are the future..........YES I do worry!

I don't worry about the future, things like meteor strikes and killer plagues are beyond my control so I don't realy think about them, unless I watch some doom-and-gloom program on Sky about it.

I'm not scared of the future; if I spend all my time worrying about events which I can neither conceive nor imagine I risk missing exciting opportunities in the present. Re-reading that back to myself it makes sense to me but I'm aware it may not to others.

The crux of what I'm trying to say is - don't allow your life to be governed by things that may or may not happen. If we begin to allow this then we switch from 'living' to simply 'existing'.

For me personally, life is for living and I grab it with two hands. Take today for instance, looking out of my window I can see the glorious sunshine, feel the cool breeze drifting through my window and can't wait for five o'clock to arrive and steal me from in front of my desk. What will I do this evening? Will I go and do a bit of shopping at Meadowhall, will I uncork a bottle of wine or just sit in the garden and dine al fresco? Tonight the world is my oyster. Don't you just love life?

:)

Originally posted by JonJParr
What will I do this evening? Will I go and do a bit of shopping at Meadowhall, will I uncork a bottle of wine or just sit in the garden and dine al fresco?

Thats a very easy choice, wine, warm breeze, jasmine flowers, red snapper on the barbie, pass the corkscrew sir.

I must be an optimist, i'm not worried about the future at all.

Oh I worry about htings that I plan to do, and personal stuff, like I've got a grading next week for my shodan after 9 years of training and teaching, but the world won't end if I fail, i'll be disappointed, but that's it. And to be honest, that's by far my biggest worry at the moment. Second to that, I'm thinking about whehter i'll get a payrise, not even sure that's really a worry, just something to keep an eye on, and beyond that i have no worries.

Some people might be more worried about their past, - in case it catches up with them :D

I'm so not scared of the future. What is there to be scared of? We (despite everything that does happen) live in the safest time period ever. In this country we have so many positive things available to us - free education, free health service, an un-corrupt police force and armed forces, fresh water etc. We don't fear earthquake or tsunami or other equally devastating natural disasters.

Live life for today, always do a good deed and be happy! That's the philosophy I try to live by :clap:

somebody once recited this aphorism. a little trite perhaps....

The future is a mystery, and the past is history, but this moment is a gift, which is why we call it the present'

There is only now. nothing else exists. To be scared of the future is a state of mind that will lead nowhere positive.

Just be glad that you have one, however brief it may be.

Originally posted by Phanerothyme
somebody once recited this aphorism. a little trite perhaps....

The future is a mystery, and the past is history, but this moment is a gift, which is why we call it the present'

There is only now. nothing else exists. To be scared of the future is a state of mind that will lead nowhere positive.

Just be glad that you have one, however brief it may be.

to take that completely to heart would lead to you making no plans for the future at all, and living the now in a totally hedonistic way. Which would rapidly leave you destitute and starving.

When I was struggling to bring up my son who has Aspergers syndrome, my mum bought me a tray which has pride of place in my kitchen, and it may seem like old hat now, but many times I read it,
God grant me the serenity
To accept the things we cannot change
Courage to change the things we can,
And the wisdom to know the differance

It works for me!

Originally posted by Cyclone
to take that completely to heart would lead to you making no plans for the future at all, and living the now in a totally hedonistic way. Which would rapidly leave you destitute and starving.

Regardless - it's the unquestionable truth - there is only now. What is in the future to fear? Nothing.

It's a great place to be - now, but obviously anhedonics need not apply :P

Originally posted by Applegrim
When I was struggling to bring up my son who has Aspergers syndrome, my mum bought me a tray which has pride of place in my kitchen, and it may seem like old hat now, but many times I read it,
God grant me the serenity
To accept the things we cannot change
Courage to change the things we can,
And the wisdom to know the differance

It works for me!


I believe it's called the 'Serenity Prayer' - I've always found it very beautiful and comforting.

My personal favourite prayer though is 'The Desiderata'. It is full of hope and love, and helped me greatly when I was suffering badly from depression.

StarSparkle

I am scared of the trailer trash mentality of this country

the chav,sponger,wide boy, wheeler dealer, that seems to make up the general public in this country


s a d

I quite like the idea of this Bird Flu thing, when is it coming?

Ive heard its going to wipe out millions of people in the UK and shut down all transport for months. Kids get to stay off school as no one will be allowed to gather in large groups.

The vaccine they have will only be partially effective as they expect it to mutate several times and have the symptoms of pnumonia. Lovely!

I am a chief worrier. Having said that, I'd reckon that about 98% of things I worried about in the past turned out to be not worthy of worrying about at all!

Maybe worry is just a corridor we need to pass through to move onto someplace else? School, business, family, money, health and so on. I worried about school and with hindsight they were the best of times. I worried about business - still do - and yet I've worked here 20 years, 6 years in my capacity as accountant.

I worried that I wouldn't be able to afford a house (we're already in our third house); worried I'd never father kids (got two) and worried my hair would turn grey (okay, two out of three ain't bad!).

As others have said, why worry about things we can't control, comets, the weather and the threat of terrorism?

Although it's not everybody's cup of tea, I like the quote from Matthew 6:34:

'Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.'

Agree with quite a lot of the comments here. At the end of the day though, you can't worry about things that aren't within your control. I certainly don't worry about getting on a plane (oh no, what if it crashes) as I'm more likely to be hit by a runaway bus.

Anyone who says that they don't worry at all must either have a great life or is so laid back that they walk round horizontally. Like others, I worry about stuff but that tends to be personal to me and immediate family/friends, and generally stuff I can influence.

this bird flu will wipe you away hadron:hihi: