KILL THE CAT BEFORE IT IS OUT OF THE BAG
We are always in anticipation of something or trying to be in control of everything. The bank alert, the job interview, the call from a friend, the parent who is sick, the exams approaching, the bills and fees, the contest, the next meal on your table, your body is getting fat, the list is endless! So our worry and greatest fear is not always in the present, but in a future which is yet to come. The question is how many things can we even think of, and how many can we be in absolute control of?
Do you realise that when you are not engaged in a physical activity, there is still something to do! Even an idle man, the one who wakes up and tosses from one side of his bed to the other, is guilty. So what keeps you busy? After you have mentioned all the hobbies and recreational things you like doing, don’t forget to add ‘Anxiety’ to the list. Excess worry and lost in thoughts! I guess I got it right.
Our mind is always constantly roaming. This is unkind to your health. Guess what anxiety means? “a relatively permanent state of worry and nervousness occurring in variety of mental disorders, usually accompanied by compulsive behaviour or attacks of panic”.
“Anxiety is like a rocking chair. It gives you something to do, but it doesn’t get you very far.”
When you are anxious, you lose sight of the moment. You try to use your hands to grab the future. That is like a blind man groping about in the dark.
I know there is so much to think about! So much to do in life, you want to lay your hands on everything and get it done. But hold on! Now take a deep breath, and another one. Say to yourself, “life happens and none of it is my fault! None of it is my responsibility, I am only my responsibility!” How did that sound in your ears?
Here is the deal, if you have a task to do, try to do it immediately to avoid your mind thinking about it. If there are so many of them, get a calendar and write out days you want to attend to each task. Now the tricky part is, you have to promise yourself not to think of any of the task until their proposed time. Is that too hard? If it is not a task, perhaps is something you are greatly anticipating, like a job, to be enlisted for a contest, an exam that is coming, for a loved one who is sick, etc. There is a higher power than you, take it to the higher authority! Then trust enough that the higher authority can take care of it.
Danielle LaPorte once said, “You’re not going to die. Here’s the white-hot truth: if you go bankrupt, you’ll still be okay. If you lose the gig, the lover, the house, you’ll still be okay. If you sing off-key, get beat by the competition, have your heart shattered, get fired…it’s not going to kill you. Ask anyone who’s been through it.