Scenario

I've discovered something helpful recently. Conversational scenarios. Have you ever had a planned conversation coming up and it keeps playing in your head how you want it to happen, then when it actually happens it's nothing like you planned and you end up becoming depressed, eating too much sugar, and spiraling out of control? I haven't, but I have been slightly less-than-happy with the outcome of a few conversations in my time. So here's what I do to soften the blow of disappointment - have multiple possible outcomes. Ex:

You want to have a conversation with the special someone who's caught your eye and let them know how you feel. So, you come up with three possible outcomes.

1 - Things go well. Not too well, but enough that you're probably sporting a silly grin. He or she says they feel the same way, maybe you hold hands and walk in the park for hours. You end up having a hot - but appropriate - makeout underneath a tree while the birds sing. Make the good scenario good enough to give you hope, but not so good that it's completely unrealistic.

2 - Things go horribly wrong. She gets a look of complete disgust on her face, slaps you, spits in your eye, rips the sleeve off your new shirt, insults your cologne, style, haircut, and heritage. She runs away screaming and starts to spread vicious rumors about ill-gotten gain, or perhaps a rash. Make this one unrealistic. Something that would never actually happen (after all, you like this person, so there's a good chance they're not completely psychotic.)

3 - Things are somewhere in the middle. He or she is flattered, but not wanting to get in a relationship. He or she is interested, but currently busy. He or she is interested and has time this weekend for a date. This one should be something that will most likely happen.

Then, when you have the conversation, guess what happens? Your good probably won't happen, your bad definitely won't happen, and it ends up somewhere in the middle. The vast majority of the time it will actually be on the positive side of middle, so you can still sport a grin!

Amazing isn't it?

I've tried it twice already with extremely positive results. Really it's just about putting things in perspective, but it's kind of fun to image unrealistic possibilities.