Imagine是想象。要计划将来，不论是明天的旅行、几个月后的大型派对、抑或是五年后的事业方向，一定要imagine可能会发生的事。但人想像未来时有种很特别的心理：
A Harvard University team has done dozens of experiments demonstrating that when we imagine events in the future, we expect the worst of bad events and the best of good events.
我们会把好事想得最好，坏事想得最坏。 “In reality, bad events don’t make us feel quite so awful and good events don’t make us feel quite so great.”但事实上，两种想法都有偏差。不好的事往往不如想像的差，好事也通常不会如想像的美好。为什么会这样？
The difficulty is that when we simulate a future event in our minds, we tend only to consider the most important features. For a negative event that means the worst bits.
Simulate解imitate the appearance or character of，或pretend to have or feel，假装、模拟、模仿。
当我们想到未来时，会在脑内模拟会发生的情境，但只会专注于最坏的部分，所以坏的感觉会被凸显，”a negative event means the worst bits”，想像负面的事情时，我们只会看到最差的部分，以致感觉特别差。
Visiting the doctor for a physical examination might not be very pleasant, but neither is every part of the visit unpleasant. Some is neutral: reading a magazine in the waiting room or hanging up your coat, for example.
事实上，负面的事情，例如去看医生当然不是种享受，但在诊所内并非每分每秒都是痛楚或惊恐，有些时间是中性的，如等候时读杂志。知道这种心理的好处，当下次遇到negative events时，可告诉自己，其实事情到真的发生时，不会如想像的差。这样可以减轻忧虑(worrying)。
但忧虑总不会是好受的。 Robert L. Leahy在The Worry Cure: Seven Steps to Stop Worry from Stopping You中就说，调查发现，38%的人说自己每天都在忧虑中渡日。
不明朗解救
忧虑有分productive(有益)和unproductive(无益)两种。 Unproductive的忧虑就是过虑，或忧虑一些无可改变的事情。须留意一些制造unproductive worries的想法和心态，书的第一章’The seven rules of highly worried people'(〈忧心忡忡一族的七大规条〉)，就逐一讨论。
例如第一条：”If something bad could happen – if you can simply imagine it – then it’s your responsibility to worry about it.”
又或第二条：”Don’t accept any uncertainty – you need to know for sure.”
Uncertain(不确定的、不明朗的)情况可以包括：
You can’t be sure that all your money won’t run out. Or that you won’t lose your job. If you did lose your jobs, you can’t be absolutely(绝对地), 100 percent sure that you would get another job.
要解决不明朗的方法包括：
Maybe you can get some certainty by getting other people to reassure(使安心) you. Go to the doctor as many times as you can afford to and ask her if she can tell you absolutely for sure that there is nothing wrong with you, or if she can tell you that you will never get sick and die.
这做法当然荒谬，但很多时我们却难免有这个倾向。 Robert L. Leahy就教我们跳出worrying cycle的办法。
