Is This True Or False, Or Is It Just Mental First Aid?

Being kind of a Delphic chick, I tend to speak in aphorisms.  I have a lazy habit of expecting that to be enough, but, if I am going to try to communicate with other peeps, haha, peeps are chicks too!, I am going to have to pick this one out a bit.

I have a saying that I cooked up one time.  That is:

"Nothing is ever as good or as bad as you thought it was going to be."

Superficially, that seems pretty sound, ya?  On the worried, bad side, most of the time what we worry about never even happens.  Things we hate, like submission to the dental arts, rarely turn out all that awful. 

But I think I had my head in my happy place when I said that.  Some things are terrible.  So, though for every day life, its mostly true that we dread and worry for not much cause, there are things most terrible.  Maybe its just as bad as one thought it was going to be to die slowly of cancer, to watch one's children being murdered, etc, you get the idea.

As far as the good side, it seems to me that it is a childish trait to think something good is going to be the answer to all of life's desires and needs.  Maybe we need to back off and not expect so much of life on this planet.  In a way our life here is muted.  Much is wonderful and beyond lovely.  But...the admixture of sorrow is there, the short life span, the failures and troubles put a damper on possible perfection.

I think part of the problem, for me, must be the finite human mind.  I can't possibly perceive what eternity will be like.  I don't  have the equipment for that.  

I can't help but think that is the ultimate good, and though I can't see or describe it, I have been informed by a Reliable Source that it IS.

So, was I lying, or was I just being foolish?  I thought I was helping myself and the kids deal with anxiety the best I could.

Things to think about on the eve of Yom Kippur.  Much to think about.

Said to be a Van Gogh.  I'm not sure sometimes.  The top third looks pretty legit.