Chain Reactions

When one event triggers, directly, another event that then goes on, repeatedly, to trigger a series of events, we call this a chain reaction. In a physical sense, this could be a chemical reaction or a system of objects triggered through force consideration into acting in a certain way upon each other. We take most of these for granted in life but, if for some reason, one of these chains were to be broken then the results could be highly undesired. Take, for example, the chain reactions in the body. So many reactions occur in the body as a result of one another and each one has a vital role, if one of them were to slip up then it could throw an unknown multitude of things into chaos. So, for the examples I've encountered at least, physical chain reactions breaking can bring chaos...though I don't doubt that this is true for every case.

Emotionally, I believe, chain reactions can also occur. In my life I've noticed, in myself, a large amount of insecurity and self-doubt in my many areas of my life, particularly my confidence. It's resulted in me being caught up in, what I think, is an emotional chain reaction and it seems to stem from insecurities about myself. I would message someone online, for whatever reason I had at the time, but would- quite frequently- receive no reply. So, if it were a message to which I needed a reply or confirmation of reading, I would send a second message to ask if the first message had been read. With very little to react to from the other person, I started to get the impression that they were annoyed by my messages. This was the first link in my emotional chain. From this, I began to worry that from their annoyance they would then start to dislike me, from there I then worried that they would want nothing to do with my if I carried on. In some form of a vicious cycle, these last few thoughts led me to send further messages in fear of losing someone I care about.

It's no news to me that I take things to heart, read too much into things and often assume the worst possible scenarios, it's probably a combination of these qualities that has led me to the slight paranoia/fear towards the end of my chain. What's the best thing to do in a situation like this, though? I highly doubt that letting things run their course will go well, so then the logical conclusion would be so somehow break the chain I've fallen into...but how? If you're stuck somewhere because of your insecurities and your doubts in a place that will only lead to bad things, what can you do to save yourself? It would be convenient, really, for someone else- a friend, perhaps- to help you break your chain, though not everyone has that.

The best conclusion I can ponder for the predicament I find myself in is not an easy one by any means...but is, I feel, the best one that a person can have if they have only themselves in this situation: To have willpower. Have willpower and try to break your own chain, as strange as you may come across to others for what you say or do, if at the end of it you end up not repeating the same mistakes that you did before or thought you were bound to, then you'll have achieved something that you can be both proud of and more sure that you won't do them again. It's often very difficult to not hide yourself in regrets, despite how much I've come out of my shell in the past year at college I know I'm very much still self conscious and unconfident, but if you truly want something enough then you'll find the willpower in you to do what you need to do in order to avoid the worst. It seems that, emotionally, breaking a chain seems to be the better thing to do, contrary to the physical kind.