I Missed a Flight while Sitting at the Gate

Hey, Cadre family doctor Kerry here. Today I want to share with you about overcoming anxiety using the worst case scenario technique. I can't remember where I read this a few years ago, but essentially the technique consists of asking yourself, what's the worst that could happen right now? And I want to share an example of something that I used to have extreme anxiety about and how I overcame this with this technique. So I don't know if you guys are like me, but traveling can cause some people anxiety, especially flying, especially if you have missed a plane before.

And in my particular example, missing this flight, it was a chaotic spring break trip. I was flying out of Minnesota, going to Florida to meet my family. They were all there already waiting for me. I was sitting at the gate, and it was so chaotic in the airport that the speakers, the gate attendants, would stay over the loudspeaker. You know, we're boarding for this plane right now. My plane ended up getting delayed. Nonetheless, I ended up being literally at the airport right by my gate and missing my plane.

So, funny story now that I look back on it years later, but what resulted from that experience was extreme anxiety about flying. I had to get to the airport so dang early and be the first one on the plane because I didn't want to miss another flight. And really, in that example, not that much crazy stuff happened. I ended up having a friend pick me up, stayed at her house. Her mom drove me to the airport in the morning. I ended up meeting up with my family. It wasn't the worst thing in the world, but I just think it's so funny because even though it wasn't like I was stranded in a third world country or something and had nowhere to go, I still ended up with this severe anxiety around traveling.

And it really had a hold over me for a few years to the point where I was literally the first person on the airplane. Whenever I was boarding a plane, when they say, you know, any passengers that need extra assistance or anybody's traveling with small children, I was literally the first one in line on the plane. They would look at me and say, ma'am, we're only boarding people that have small children and need extra assistance. And I was so worked up at this point that I would snap at them, I need extra assistance.

I need to get on that plane. So anyway, I. I finally came across this example of the worst case scenario exercise, and I want to explain how this works. So essentially, you ask yourself the question, what is the worst that could happen right now? I miss my plane. Okay, what's the worst that happens if I miss my plane, I have to figure out a way home from the airport because somebody drops me off and figure out a place to stay for the night. Okay, what's the worst that's going to happen? If you have to call up a friend and find a place to stay for the night, it inconveniences my friend.

I have to rebook my flight and get a ride back to the airport in the morning. Okay, what's the worst that happens then? I end up missing a day of my vacation. Okay, what's the worst that happens then? It's just not fun. I'm missing this trip I planned. I'm missing this. And so it's a simple exercise and a really silly example, but think about it for other areas of your life, especially if you have anxiety around a certain thing. I used to have anxiety around not getting enough sleep at night. This is something I very recently broke off.

I've had this my entire life because as a young kid, I struggled with worry and anxiety at bedtime. And so it would take me forever to fall asleep to the point where I started using medication to sleep. And so I had this anxiety around going to bed at night because I had this fear of, well, if I don't get enough sleep, then I'm going to have an unproductive day, I'm going to be tired. I'm going to have to use more caffeine, and that makes me feel jittery. And this, this and this. But in the end, am I going to die because I didn't get enough sleep?

No. People function all the time having not gotten a lot of sleep. People function all the time having missed their airplane. So even though it's a really simple exercise, I would encourage you to identify some areas of your life that you have consistent anxiety around. And a lot of time that anxiety is rooted in some fear, and there might be some validity to that fear. I actually missed my plane and it was a big inconvenience, so I had some fear around it. That's often where anxiety comes from.

So maybe there is a legitimate fear, but the anxiety has really taken over your life in such a sense that you just can't even enjoy things anymore. Or you have anxiety when it doesn't even seem like it really matches the situation because you have anxiety or a fear around something that just really is kind of overboard. So again, I'm not saying that you shouldn't have anxiety at times because anxiety can be a good emotion, but really use this exercise. If there's an area of your life that you're like, you know what?

I'm really sick of being anxious about this. I'm not gonna die. Two basic human needs in life are to live or not die and procreate. So we're pretty good at not dying. We're pretty good at that. That's what that anxiety and fear comes in sometimes if our life is in danger, but really most situations don't put our life in danger. So I would encourage you to use this worst case scenario exercise if there is an area of your life where you're like, I'm just sick of being anxious in this, and I'm going to choose to be joyful because it really is a mindset.

And once you walk your brain down that path of what is the worst that could happen, am I actually going to die? Because your brain probably thinks you are somewhere in the back there. It probably illogically thinks you're going to die as a result of whatever's going to happen or might happen. But really tell your brain this is not a life threatening situation and I'm not going to die. And yes, this could be a major inconvenience. It could really put a dampen on something in my life, but I'm not going to die.

And train your brain to say, you know what? Next time that anxiety comes up, I'm going to recognize that it's okay to be anxious about flying. It's okay to be anxious about missing a flight. But I also don't need to get in that just panic state anymore because that's not healthy for my body or my mind. I hope this exercise is helpful. Please check back with me and let me know if you've tried this and in what areas you have tried it because I would love to learn other ways that I could use this for other people.

Thank you and God bless.