I found myself feeling fearful lately. I'm wondering which direction to go in, where I should be living, and it makes me feel anxious because I don't know what's next.
Yep, my 2 year anniversary of being back in Sydney just passed and, true to form, I'm restless.
But I don’t want to bore you with that…
I wanted to ask you a question:
What if you woke up tomorrow and you weren’t afraid anymore?
What if all those outcomes you keep dreaming up (the bad ones) faded into the distance and didn’t hover around as you went through your day?
It’s just that I remembered this little game I used to play back in the day when I was a stressed out corporate sales exec, and it made me feel better and I thought it might work for you too.
Often, I’d leave for an appointment worrying that I was going to be late (the boss always arrives at your desk just as you’re about to walk out the door – you know?)
But instead of stressing as I walked to the car park, drove for 45 minutes (which turned into 55), I did this instead:
I’d look at the time – 30 minutes till I had to be there – and I’d think “I’m not late yet”.
As my concern rose again, stuck in a traffic snarl up, I’d look at the clock – 20 minutes – “I’m not late yet”.
And so on. In my mind’s eye, instead of seeing an irate customer, I saw a quiet office with him chatting on the phone – because I wasn’t late yet.
If I did end up late – the anxiety was lessened considerably because I only had to think about it for a few minutes, but usually I miraculously made it on time anyway…
This doesn’t just work for appointments – it works for all those fears that sit in the wings – those things that eat your insides up with anxiety, even though they haven’t happened yet, and probably never will.
Because fear, worry and anxiety are simply imagination out of control. Your life is dogged by fear of what may happen.
The antidote is living in the now.
Which I know you’ve heard it at least 1,000 times before.
But living in the now is not just some new age platitude – it’s good, solid advice.
Focus on what’s happening now and let go of trying to control the future. Most of what you worry about never happens anyway – what a waste of your life!
Instead, you could be looking around at what is actually happening and saying – wow, my life rocks!
And when you realise that's the truth - reply and tell me all about it. |
