Anxious or Excited?

Hello Divergents!

I have a newfound intrigue of the experience of anxiety. Why? I've been dealing with a lot of anxiety as I navigate big changes in my life circumstances.

I've been jettisoned into change, and I get to participate with that change and impact the shape it takes.

My theme for this year is "Thrive," and with the upheaval in my life, I've wondered: "Am I focusing on thriving or surviving?" Tenacity to survive is an area of proficiency for me after decades of practice.

Can you relate?

Do you make decisions based on optimizing joy, fulfillment, beauty, and love?

Or do you worry about retirement, illnesses, a loved one leaving you?

Do you build up fortresses and walls to protect your heart or do you build a boat to carry you down the River of Life?

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Recently, I've been captured by the work of the "Art of Accomplishment" and a concept they present in their coaching: often anxiety is excitement misunderstood. With this consideration, we can interact with the buzzing energy and lean into excitement and away from fear and catastrophizing.

The anxiety informs us that what we are considering is important to us. We can choose how we frame and shape this information.

I have options.

I can tell the story right now that I am surviving as I build out a van with bed, storage, desk, electrical items, insulation, kitchen, etc, OR I can tell that story that I am building the dream life I've always wanted and this is the next step.

I get to consider again (and again and again): Am I a victim of life circumstances or am I present and awake to the beauty all around me (including within)?

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Joe of the Art of Accomplishment suggests trying saying outloud: "I'm excited; I'm excited; I'm excited..." - 10, 15, 20x - and seeing if you feel differently. When I try, I do.

Then you can try to be specific. "I'm excited for this new opportunity." "I'm excited for this move." "I'm excited for this time alone."

I think you can go deep with it too...

"I'm excited to learn more about love."

"I'm excited to heal these wounds."

"I'm excited to learn how to communicate more effectively."

"I'm excited to practice advocating for myself."

We can access liberation when we remember that anxiety is that hint that something really matters to us. We can be curious about the myriad impacts of this positive portion of anxiety. This can aid in sleeping better at night and relating to people more fully.

I think it's also helpful to know what anxiety feels like in your body and to identify its first appearance, so you're not first noticing it when you're overwhelmed, having insomnia, experiencing decision paralysis, and feeling like you can't rest. But that's perhaps for another post.

Rooting for you hard.

May you always see the blessing.

-esb

1. What is your relationship to anxiety?

2. What could changing your relationship to anxiety mean for you?

3. When could you try the "I'm excited!!" experiment?

4. What would you risk if you felt more excitement and less anxiety?

When I get the chance, I’ve been sharing about the van build process on youtube. You can find the link below to follow along.