Last night I realized just how little it takes to throw me off my game. Trick or treaters, for instance. For years now, I've either gone out or just pretended not to be home, to avoid them. This year I bought my candy and turned on the porch light. It made me surprisingly nervous.
Then my phone, which has been acting up on and off for weeks, started dropping incoming calls again. I called the phone company, and of course they could not reproduce the problem. The uncertainty of it stressed me out, well, a lot.
Two simple things, one really high stress level. I did make it through the trick or treaters, though, and within a few minutes, my anxiety over the phone went down. Then I moved on to another mundane-ish worry- an issue that I won't be able to resolve until the weekend. I reminded myself that this is a PERFECT exposure scenario, having to sit with uncertainty, and that helped a bit.
Last weekend I stumbled upon a super inspirational story on the internet. A story of bravery in the face of true unambiguous tragedy. I've been using it both for inspiration and for perspective. When I have a little more time, I'll share it.
My Apologies!
4 years ago
I'm sorry you had to deal with the added problems from the phone, but I'm glad you were able to work through the situation and make your way through the imaginary goblins (those brought on by the anxiety and those ringing your doorbell for candy). ; )
ReplyDeleteOh I soooooo can relate to this!!! It doesn't take much to make me anxious. And with what I'm going through right now - I'm well - very needy. My poor friends are hearing me cry and vent at every turn. I'm sure it must not be easy to be my friend because I turn to them for reassurance on many things. Veiled in "normal friendship" stuff but still. I look forward to reading your inspirational story.
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