What If It All Works Out?

I have a confession to make.

When I was in college, I had my first tarot card reading. At one point, the woman turned over a card—a small rabbit with a looming eagle overhead—and told me I had a tendency to focus on what could go wrong. So much so, she said, that it was almost like I was inviting calamity in.

She encouraged me to believe in myself. In the Universe.

I nodded politely… while internally thinking, Okay, crazy lady. This is my life we’re talking about. A lot of things could go wrong. And then what?

But if I’m being honest… She wasn’t wrong.

For years, I lived as what I now call a chronic what-iffer. I would run through every possible scenario—plan A, B, C… sometimes all the way to Z.

I thought I was being responsible, prepared, smart, what have you.

But really? I was exhausted. And more often than not, I wasn’t moving forward at all.

Because that’s what “what if” thinking does. It pulls you out of possibility—and drops you straight into fear.

You start somewhere simple: What if I fail? And before you know it, you’re ten steps ahead, deep in a future that hasn’t happened… solving problems that don’t even exist yet.

So let me ask you something.

What if… you asked a different question?

What if it all works out?

Not perfectly and not without effort., but in a way that surprises you. In a good way.

What if the thing you’re afraid to try actually opens something you didn’t even know was possible?

This doesn’t mean fear disappears. It just means it no longer gets to lead.

These days, when I catch myself drifting into “what if” thinking, I try to gently shift the question. Because maybe the point isn’t to eliminate fear. Maybe it’s to give equal airtime to possibility.

So maybe the question isn’t: What if it goes wrong?

Maybe it’s: What if it goes right?