Thursday, May 28, 2015

Oh Anxiety, How Nice To See You! Come On In

By Evan Sanders


Have you ever listened to somebody define anxiety in such a way that it changed it down to its core?

I'll never forget sitting in class and having my master coach say to everyone nervously looking at him "Now a large amount of things are going to change in your life, and this may bring up some agitation, but just think of anxiety as new things happening. "

Woah.

New things occuring? I have never thought of it like that before. When we actually get down to define anxiety in a strict sense, it's a feeling of worry or nervousness about a situation that has a modest amount of fear surrounding it. What could occur next? What will the end result be? In a way, anxiety is a superb indicator of forward thinking or "row boat thinking," a phrase I have just lately coined.

What is the thought behind "row boat thinking?"

Each of us are given a fascinating narrative throughout our lives that sounds a lot like this..."I'll be happy when this happens. It'll all turn out when I get there. " The problem is, we are rowing toward this island that does not exist. We think it's there, but it is one of the most beautifully manufactured mirages we have ever seen. It's really sexy. It's beguiling. It is simply enough to keep us grasping and thirsting for more. But there's real danger in this type of thinking meanging that deep anxiety can be our greatest indicator that we are really caught in the process of doing it in the first place.

Living in the future can have as many negative complications as living in the past. Everyone knows what it is like to desire to run from our past, but I'm going to say that we should avoid living in the future just as much. We will be able to get stuck in some place, a very uncertain place, that frankly is beyond control. Should you set big goals and have a dream for what you desire out of your life? Definitely. But the danger is building the foundation of your true happiness on such a place.

The one guarantee I'm able to make you about this life is that it will absolutely change. You can not go to the past, the present is changeable at any moment and the future is to be decided.

So what are we able to do?

That uncertainty...love it. Embrace the hell out of it. The doubtful places in your life are occasions to have nothing short than magic occur. Do you actually know what is going to occur? Absolutely not. Will you try and project as much as practicable? Yes, we've all done that haven't we? But when you start returning to the present time, over and over again because our minds never stop getting distracted, you get to totally be here. Here really is a excellent spot to be. Start basically seeing what is occurring around you rather than spending a lot of time distracting yourself from everything that isn't in this moment.

So all stress actually is, when it really boils down to it, is new things taking place. Love that feeling and sit with it. Really take a little time to truly feel the nervousness in your stomach and then take a minute to start to appreciate why it's coming up. "In this moment, what is the thing that's happening right now that's honestly new?" When you attempt to do that, well, things become lots more fun. But when you stop living in the future , the anxiousness begins to disappear altogether.

It is actually about how we define anxiety in the first place.




About the Author:



No comments:

Post a Comment