The mind turns possibilities into impossibilities when fear gets to finish every sentence.

Fear is not a bad analyst. It is just a very early one, and it tends to finish the sentence before any other part of you has spoken. So the idea appears, fear supplies the ending, and the possibility is closed before it was ever examined. What you experience as a realistic assessment was often just the fastest voice in the room getting the last word.

When you catch a possibility being dismissed quickly, write down the full thought and then write a second ending for it. Not an optimistic one, just a different one. Giving the idea a second draft is usually enough to see whether the first was reasoning or reflex.