A Thought Exercise for Building Mental Resilience

When things are going well, meditate on all that can go wrong

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So things in your life are going well. You’re in a good place in your career. You’re healthy, and so are your loved ones. Your relationships are strong.

Great. Now meditate on what can go wrong.

This may sound like a terrible idea. “Why worry unnecessarily?” you might ask. You’d rather deal with setbacks as they come. But doing a “loss meditation” serves an important purpose: It can help you become more resilient when setbacks hit, and feel more grateful for what you have now.

To give it a try, follow these steps:

1. Find a comfortable place to sit or lie down.
2. Close your eyes.
3. Think about a person who is close to you and whom you rely on for support. Imagine having a good time with them. Feel the joy you experience from being with that person.
4. Now, imagine that you’re alone in a room. Imagine you receive a call. You pick up the phone. The person you love just died.
5. Feel the shock and sadness in your stomach.

Now, snap out of it. It’s not necessary to get stuck in that feeling. The point is to temporarily feel negative emotions, so…