The Question
What are the bellwethers you use to determine how you’re handling your anxiety?
The Intention
Examine
The Meditative Moment
When anxiety overwhelms, we can let things slide: laundry piles up; dishes don’t get done; books go unread. We lean toward the path of least resistance: easy meals, basic self-care, limited interactions. We are drawn to distractions: books, movies, and music that allow us to escape rather than confront. All of this makes sense and might be necessary for a time. But taking small steps toward tackling resistance is empowering. Spend five minutes washing dishes. Fold three pieces of laundry each hour until that basket is done. Read one paragraph. Send one e-mail. Stand outside for three minutes; maybe even walk to the end of your block and then come back home. Anxiety tempts us into thinking we are incapable of doing. Anxiety lies. So when you do things anyway, you’re training yourself to push back against that lizard brain. Small steps are actually giant leaps.
Originally sent September 2, 2023, to paid Substack subscribers. If you want to receive current Thin Space reflections, you can start a paid subscription here: https://laurenlmurphy.substack.com. You can choose to pay $75/year or $8/month.
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