Hi,
It's Giles.
This is a short piece for you to take time out with and reflect on.
A light-hearted story that points to something that's true for all of us.
As such,
There's no effort required while you're listening,
Only something to realise.
Something that can lead to profound,
Permanent change.
So get comfortable,
Relax,
And listen quietly for insight.
Anxiety.
A three-step solution.
I've lived through some terrible things in my life,
Some of which actually happened.
Mark Twain.
Anxiety is a big deal,
With recent statistics suggesting that around 15% of the population qualify for an anxiety disorder.
Of course,
That number pales next to the feeling of anxiety that we all experience from time to time.
Me too.
These days,
You don't have to look very far to find a lot to be anxious about.
Nobody really likes being anxious,
For that 15% it's debilitating.
So let's look at three simple steps you can take to deal with it.
Step one.
Understand where it comes from.
This is the most important,
And on its own affords a fresh perspective on the experience that might just change it forever.
Because while it looks like your anxious feelings come from situations or people,
That's technically not possible.
Anxiety is not a contagious disease.
It's not transmissible.
The source of anxious feelings is anxious thought.
Full stop.
There is no other way to experience it,
Which explains why some people just aren't bothered by something that might be panic-inducing in another.
If anxiety came from the situation,
We'd all be equally worried by it.
Step two.
Observe what the mind is doing.
I said at the outset that we can find a lot to be anxious about,
And it's helpful to realise that this process of finding has nothing to do with reality,
And everything to do with the mind's narrative.
When encountering any fluctuation in your energy or feeling state,
Its first job is to label it.
Oh,
I know this feeling.
It's anxiety.
Then try and figure out what must be causing it,
Using the data it has to do so.
Sabre-toothed tigers haven't really been a thing for some time now,
So if you're not in imminent physical danger,
It looks instead to everything you've consumed in the media,
Or been told you should fear by your parents and peers.
Hence the never-ending list of things.
Squash one,
And another will pop up in its place.
The mind is a pattern-matching machine that thinks it's keeping you safe by predicting the future badly,
Guessing how you're likely to feel in those situations even more badly,
And then getting itself in a right tiz when it realises it has zero control over any of that uncertainty.
Hello,
Anxiety.
Step three.
Accurately locate your safety zone.
What are we to do then?
Stop thinking?
Try only thinking non-anxious thoughts?
I'm betting you've tried both of those.
They don't really work,
Do they?
No,
It's much easier than that.
We just leave it be.
We see its nature,
A harmless script from the computer mind that is not who we are,
And we stop listening to it.
Stripped of its power,
It settles naturally,
A process encapsulated beautifully in the words of Sri Yukteswar,
The 19th century yogi,
Who said,
An ignored guest quickly leaves.
When the focus of our attention is no longer on a load of useless mind rubbish,
There's really only one place it can be,
Here and now.
This is your safety zone,
And it's where you've been built to thrive.
Clear-minded and fully present,
You can,
And do,
Handle whatever comes your way.
It's how we're designed,
All of us.
Even if the mind strikes lucky and perfectly predicts a terrible scenario you must endure,
When you're in the thick of it,
Truly present and dealing with it,
All future uncertainty has been removed,
And along with it,
Any anxiety.
That's when you hear yourself saying,
Sheepishly,
Oh,
It wasn't half as bad as I'd expected.
Armed with this knowledge,
You are free to skip the anxious thinking and just live your life,
One moment at a time,
With love,
Giles.
And as with all my talks,
A deeper appreciation for what I'm pointing to can be had with repeated listens.
You'll hear something different next time.
