"What would you do if you weren't afraid?" famously asked in the book Who Moved My Cheese by Dr.SpencerJohnson is an important question for anyone who has a yearning for something different.
Fear is an important emotion, protecting humans from predators and threats to our survival. In the modern world, it is common for minds to become overcome and overrun by fear, both actual threat and imagined perceived threat.
Asking yourself endless "what if" questions, along with physiological sensations such as heart racing and tightness of the stomach are signals to look out for to see if you are experiencing a threat state. Danger exists for sure and fear serves a function which is to keep us alive. It's that sometimes in the effort to keep us safe, our minds may be spinning stories, trying to make sense of things that do not make sense. We may come up with solutions that are ineffective for our growth, such as believing it is better to wait for things to change before we make any change. Which can lead to unintended consequences such as irritability, lack of motivation, and feelings of hopelessness. Change is constant, we can actively participate in the process and as best as we can lead ourselves in the direction to what is meaningful, or dig our heels in the sand watching as things go one changing anyway.
I created this post before the election, and wasn't sure if now was a good time to share it or not. It makes total sense that anxiety levels are high and it is difficult to shift attention towards one's own values and priorities when some of us are feeling tapped out and understandably afraid of the impact of Covid on the rise, while we wait in anticipation of what will happen next in America, once all the votes are counted. My hope is for people to take care of themselves as best they can, attending to what offers a sense of meaning and peace and acknowledging all feelings as they are. It is the best way I know to get through this time.
