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Are you fuelled by fear? - 7th April 2020
Chronic anxiety was my default setting for most of my life. It took a long time for me to realise it, but yes, I was fuelled by fear. In 2015 it caught up with me in the form of adrenal exhaustion, a debilitating experience of extreme overwhelm.
Right now fear is practically in the air we all breathe. Read on to find out what you can do to reduce the impact of fear.
If like me your default setting has been anxiety then you are probably struggling right now. If Coronavirus had come along five years ago I would have been in complete emotional and mental meltdown by now. Instead, I'm coping reasonably well. I would be lying if I said I never have a twinge of fear, I do, but these days I have a variety of strategies to ensure I don't get consumed by those feelings.
These days I know I have a choice about how I feel. You also have that same choice.
Right now that choice requires a lot of determination and conscious effort.
Others are coping better!
That might be your perception. Is it the truth?
When you speak to your family and friends are they all talking about the huge amount of cleaning and baking they've been doing? The online courses they've signed up for? How they do an online exercise class every day? How they are in constant touch with family and friends on Facebook? Can you see how this "Whirling Dervish" level of activity is not sustainable and actually is running the same frenetic energy as fear?
I speak from personal experience remember. Fear runs at a million miles an hour and that is why it is so exhausting. At least some of the copers you know are metaphorically running from fear. Maybe they think they have made a pact with fear and they are running with it? They simply dare not stop.
What if you could slow down - without being consumed by fear?
You can! This is my habitual practice.
It's not necessarily easy, but it has the potential to transform the way you experience your life.
Unfortunately this is not about making a one-off decision. You will need to make the decision over and over again for the rest of your life. This is my commitment to myself. When I was in the depths of adrenal exhaustion, I knew I had to make some drastic changes to my way of living. At that point it had to be worth it. I had no physical energy at all. My body felt like a lead weight and my mind was incapable of a clear thought. I was in a state of extreme distress.
3 things to focus on
1. In any moment, ask yourself, where is my attention? This is key to change - you are in control of your attention
2. Establish personal boundaries with others and for your own best interests
3. Establish a meditation practice.
It can be hard to adopt new practices and stick to them without any support.
If you would like to try a new way of being to suit the times we are living through then please get in touch with me. If you are on Facebook consider joining my Time to Change Private FB group. There you will be sharing the space with other like minded members who are all on a path of holistic decluttering. Remember, holistic decluttering applies just as much to head clutter as it does clutter in your home. Both are connected to feelings of overwhelm.
If Facebook is not your thing then I also work via Zoom (similar to Skype) and you can book a one to one session with me. To find out more about how this could work for you please send me an email.
Keywords: anxiety, self-care
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