The antithesis of anxiety

It doesn’t always work, and some mornings you wake, and you just can’t do it, but other mornings start out horrid, yet you harness your poise, agree to risk courageously, as you say, “Nothing’s holding me back today; I’m facing the world and all my problems.”

You know, today it worked, and I heard the echo of the Spirit say, “Write about it.”

With the ambient stressors of life compelling you to believe that everything’s about to go wrong, or the unanticipated thing that will shock you in grief, or even the disequilibrium of feeling estranged to peace, it’s easy to lose sight of what might just go right.

I’m sure we’ve all had days where we’ve been blown away by the fact the sky’s not fallen in.

As I drove to work today:

§     I resolved to myself to be brave, to slow down, to relax instead of running around, to smile beyond my propensity to worry; to make the most of the opportunity for good-natured humour.

§     I bought oil, and I found an innovative way of putting it (drop free) into my car’s engine (because I didn’t have the tooling on hand to help me).  I did this calmly and methodically, ensuring I had plenty of time to do it.

§     I agreed with myself for the umpteenth time, there are so many things I cannot change, that these are the situations I need to let go of.

§     I became mindful with the wind and rain and the elements beating against my car.

§     I did my strategizing on the way to work, ensuring the complexities of my day would go smoother if I determined my steps.

§     I rewarded myself for mental mindfulness with a treat of mental mindfulness once I achieved a task, completed a meeting, and had a good interaction.

§     I decided that because I didn’t have a late meeting to attend that I’d relieve my wife of the need of picking our son up – he loves it when I collect him (a reward for him AND I).

§     The work didn’t stop so I went with it, enjoying the opportunity to achieve while I could.  Without anxiety, it is a pleasure to serve people and willingly do the work with joy that needs doing.  To under-promise and over-deliver is good for one’s soul.

There’s probably more but I’ll leave it at that.

There’s something encouraging about overcoming anxiety on the days we can.  I acknowledge not every day’s this controllable, but a lot of the time we can ward against distress by gritting the teeth a little and forcing a smile, especially if we can laugh.

Worth a try?

Photo by Kamal Bilal on Unsplash