> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.gilespcroft.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Choosing what to worry about - URL: https://www.gilespcroft.com/choosing-what-to-worry-about/ - Published: 2024-08-10T07:00:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-09-19T08:26:39.000Z - Description: Is it just me, or does it worry more about the stuff that's really *unlikely* to happen 🤦🏻‍♂️ - Author: Giles P Croft - Tags: Anxiety, Attention, Cycling, Expectations, MECHANICS, Psychology, Quick insight, Real stories, Thought realisation, Two predictions It’s funny the things our minds worry about. They’re all out of proportion, aren’t they? For instance, our home is built on a slope and we have some steep metal steps outside the back door. Every single time I clip-clop down them gingerly in my cycling shoes, my mind conjures images of me tumbling down them head first… breaking my neck… life in a wheelchair… or worse. Thanks mind! 🙄 I suppose the mind's prime directive is to keep the organism alive, but jeez, it’s a bit bloody twitchy, isn’t it? I always say it’s got two jobs: 1. **Predicting future situations** (really badly) 2. **Predicting how we’ll feel** in those situations (even more badly) Neither are remotely ‘true’ - it’s just our conditioning, being made visible. A mind, doing what minds do. We don’t get to choose what it says, and between you and me, I’m not sure we [get to choose](https://www.gilespcroft.com/hafiz-2025-day-5/) how we respond to what it says either (otherwise—don't know about you—but I'd choose not to be bothered by *anything* it said, ever)! In her brilliant book [*Just a Thought*](https://amzn.to/4uwokfe?ref=gilespcroft.com), Amy Johnson points out that in the early days, when there were a bazillion ways of the organism dying, early-brain false positives (e.g. thinking the neighbouring tribe *are* coming to slaughter you, when in fact they’re not) were naturally selected over false negatives (i.e. *not* thinking they’re coming to slaughter you… when they are)! 😬☠️⚰️ Explains a lot. It’s a far cry from me mincing around in lycra, mind. But I guess we’re lumbered with 40,000+ year old software, long overdue an update. Anyway, every time I’m very carefully making my way down those steps in my cycling shoes—Thanks mind! 🏆🧠🙌🏻—I’m endlessly amused and bemused by the fact it’s slavishly devoted to this particular concern, but can’t ever really be arsed worrying about: - riding in super-busy traffic, or - careening downhill at 80kph on a few millimetres of rubber. Minds. How bonkers can they get? Let me count the ways… 💟 Giles SIGN UP FOR THE DAILY REMINDERS newsletter [![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9b/f3/9bf3d316-7d32-494b-814f-a7d94d6358c3/content/images/2025/12/DR_Lockup-Black-1.png)](#/portal/signup) Want to start **your* days with helpful, insightful content like this? The Daily Reminder is a quick, lighthearted email that arrives in your inbox, to help keep you grounded in reality, so that you get to **‘Think less, and live more.’* **“They feel like a moment of stillness in a world of madness.” \~* Neil, UK **“One of those small things with big impact. Honestly, just sign up!”* \~ Paula, UK [GET YOURS NOW ](#/portal/signup) ### Related [The ‘insert topic here’ thoughtMinds are creatures of habit, so we \*all\* get ‘bad’ thoughts that tend to reoccur. You’re not alone 💞![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9b/f3/9bf3d316-7d32-494b-814f-a7d94d6358c3/content/images/icon/DR_Lockup-Black-3-467.png)The Daily RemindersGiles P Croft![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9b/f3/9bf3d316-7d32-494b-814f-a7d94d6358c3/content/images/thumbnail/photo-1620662736427-b8a198f52a4d-1.jpeg)](https://www.gilespcroft.com/the-insert-topic-here-thought/) You know, it's perfectly ok to think **any* thought. You do **know* this, don't you?