Choose Your Attitude

Life is 5% what happens to you and 95% how you react to it, or so they say.  You can choose your attitude is another way of saying the same thing.  I am generally a super optimistic girl, but what happens when the 5% isn't really 5%?  What happens when the 5% thing is so big that you can't see past it?  There are always exceptions after all.

Randy Pausch has this to say about those exceptions,  “Another way to be prepared is to think
~Randy Pausch, The Last Lecture    

negatively. Yes, I'm a great optimist. but, when trying to make a decision, I often think of the worst case scenario. I call it 'the eaten by wolves factor.' If I do something, what's the most terrible thing that could happen? Would I be eaten by wolves? One thing that makes it possible to be an optimist, is if you have a contingency plan for when all hell breaks loose. There are a lot of things I don't worry about, because I have a plan in place if they do.”  

What is your contingency plan?
When are they appropriate?