How to Keep Calm and Carry On

CHAPTER 6

Problem solving

At the core of most worry lies a potential problem. How will I manage at that day-long course when I don’t know any of the other people attending? How can I tell my child’s teacher that I’m unhappy about what happened at school last week? What should I cook for our guests next weekend? How will I cope with those medical tests? How on earth am I going to be able to pay for that holiday?

With some worries, we’re in the realm of the uncertain: problems we fear may crop up some time in the future. There’s often nothing we can do right now about these potential problems, so the best thing is to let them go.

But there are some problems – such as the ones listed above – that we can definitely do something about. And if we ...