There is a drain to dread. It drains us of mental and emotional energy and resources. We may dread little things like getting the laundry done, cleaning house, fixing things and working on projects. Then we may dread bigger things like standing up to the people who try to bully us around, bringing up an issue that you know will be explosive, engaging in conflict in general at work or at home.

Dread drains us. It sometimes drains us more than the conflict itself as dread doesn’t stop until we do what we need to do.

I think some of things we dread come from self-doubt. Is this the right course of action? What if it goes terribly wrong? What will be the price to pay and will that price be worth it?

In small matters I’m seeing more and more how we need to prioritize what we dread so that it doesn’t continue to drain us. Do the tasks that we don’t want to do first. That way the dread, even a small amount, doesn’t weigh us down.

But in big matters? It does matter that we count the cost. That does take time and patience.

There’s another truth though as well. We can never fully know if it’s the right decision or not. Sometimes we have to go with when we get to the point of being “reasonably sure”. Then make a decision and deal with any fallout as it may come.