crazy thoughts that might not be so crazy

I think we all sometimes have silly thoughts that seem to come from nowhere. Yesterday, my therapist confirmed this for me. He shared with me a story about a time he was standing at the edge of a subway platform as the train was approaching. He thought for a brief second about what would happen if he just jumped. Obviously, he didn’t jump. And he wouldn’t have anyway. He knew it would either kill him or cause serious pain, neither of which he wanted to experience. But sometimes we just have random thoughts like that.

I’ve decided to share a few of my own:

>> I am planning a life celebration in the near future. While searching for the candles I am going to have serving as table centerpieces, I started having second thoughts. What if someone happened to knock a candle over and the whole thing went up in flames?

>> While driving on the highway, I have wondered what would happen if I suddenly removed my keys from the ignition.

>> I’m protective of my social security number. At the bank, when asked for the number on a rare occasion, I get nervous and whisper it because, for a brief second, I am afraid someone will record me saying it aloud, go home and steal my identity.

>> I’ve also (often) experienced this thought, mostly because I am afraid of knives: Say I am walking with a knife on a plate or a tray. I am tense the entire time because I keep visualizing myself tripping, the plate/tray flipping in the air, the knife lodging itself in my chest and me dying.

The odds of any of these things happening, I know, are slim to none. But I still can’t help having the thought.