Dread

To dread an event is to suffer twice: first when you dread the event, and again when you experience it. However, there is also a chance that to dread an even is to suffer once, only when you dread it, only to find out later that what you were dreading isn't actually as bad as you thought it would be.

That's what happened today. There were a few items on my calendar for today that I dreaded, but none of them turned out to be as dreadful as I had expected them to be. My dread caused me to ore-emptively suffer for events that didn't even make me suffer when they occurred. Had I been wiser and more in control of my emotions, I could have chosen not to dread these events and thus not suffer from them at all.

I am reminded of the Serenity Prayer:

Lord grant me the Serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
the courage to change the things I can (and should),
and the wisdom to know the difference.

Had I been wiser, I could have prayed for serenity and then not suffered at all for dreading those not-actually-dreadful events. Granted, I'm very glad those events didn't turn out as bad as I expected. But now I feel a bit foolish for dreading how bad I thought the events would be. Had I been judicious and curbed my expectations, I might not have had to suffer at all.