I often regurgitate cliche phrases and statements without thinking too deeply about their underlying meaning. One example of this, which I’d like to discuss today, is the phrase “It could be worse” (fyi, I’ve got a ton of examples which I’ll talk about later). Oftentimes, I’ll throw this statement around lightly; for example,
- “Hey, how was work today?”
- “Well, it was okay, I had to do X, Y & Z”
- “Well, it could be worse!”
Sure, it probably could be worse. There’s tons of things in life which are worse than some of the struggles I might have to deal with on a daily basis. I have a friend who recently went down to Ft. Myers/Sanibel Island in Florida, a region which is still suffering tremendously as a result of hurricane Ian in September 2022. A series of earthquakes claimed the lives of 10s of thousands of people in Turkey & Syria, theres fires in the south of Chile destroying thousands of homes, and a whole collection of suffering that exists at a global level that it’s very easy for me to say “well, it could be worse!”.
The other day, while I was walk-thinking, I had a realization about this phrase: it’s such an awful way to think. By thinking in this way, I essentially close myself off from the myriad of possibilities that life could unfold into. Is this what it’s like to stop dreaming?
Should I maintain this perspective, I’ll always remain content with my current situation, because “well, it could be worse!”. There’s no reason for me to question the status-quo; what I currently have is already good enough, so I needn’t concern myself with thinking bigger thoughts or more grandiose ideas. But what if I made a simple adjustment to this thought pattern? What if, instead of simply remarking, “well, it could be worse”, I instead chose to ask myself, “how could it be better?”?
I’ll take a moment to clarify that this cognitive adjustment is not resulting from a lack of gratitude. I am incredibly grateful for the life that I live today. I have an amazing wife, a great job which pays my bills & provides me with flexibility to balance my work and my life. I have a supportive family, friends, a car & a roof over my head. I’m able to go out on a Friday night and have sushi or pizza or whatever (within reason) we might be in the mood for. I’ve been fortunate enough to travel to various parts of the world, and meet countless amazing people along the way… all of this to say, I’m aware of how blessed I am, and simultaneously aware that many others have not been as fortunate.
The point is, I can continue to be grateful for what I have (I remind myself every day!) while taking a moment to ask myself, “how could it be better?”. By switching from default negative to default positive, we instantly have a brighter outlook on life. When we ask ourselves open-ended questions such as “how could it be better?”, we’re stimulating our curiosity and opening up our minds to consider a future more desirable than our present. This exercise isn’t intended to make us disregard the present moment, but rather to encourage us to let our imagination guide the development of our future.
So, the next time you say to yourself “well, it could be worse!”, I urge you to instead ask yourself, “how could it be better?”!