Welcome to Day 7 of the Anxiety Challenge with Martha Beck.
In this challenge,
You'll explore gentle and creative ways to calm your body,
Quiet your thoughts,
And ease anxious feelings.
Let's jump into today's session.
Welcome back to Day 7,
Our final session together.
Congratulations on getting this far.
Yesterday,
We learned how being stuck can actually be the doorway to creativity.
Today,
We'll bring everything together by creating a sanity quilt.
Stitching small joys,
People,
And places we love into a life that truly supports us.
Okay,
Let's jump into today's session.
Reduce anxiety and find the creativity that will build your ideal life.
I'd like to talk a little bit about quilting.
In some ways,
Life is like a quilt.
We stitch together different activities,
Places,
People,
Different work functions to make a pattern of our overall lives.
Usually,
It's a pattern we've been taught.
Some of us create the pattern of loyal employee,
Or perfect parent,
Or good citizen,
Sometimes all of these.
But most of us follow patterns we've been given by the people around us.
However,
There's more than one way to make a quilt.
The first and the most common is to follow a pattern.
Decide what we want and then carefully trim the right kinds of fabric to fit together into that pattern.
But then there's something called a crazy quilt.
To make one of these,
The quilter gathers lots of scraps of fabric they find beautiful and then sews them together in a way that looks pleasing to their eye.
But it follows no pattern.
This is why it's called a crazy quilt.
But I like to call it a sanity quilt.
Because when we break out of patterns that don't please us and we start putting together aspects of life that delight us,
That's not crazy.
That's sanity.
So this exercise is to help you create a sanity quilt out of the people,
Places,
And activities in your life so that at the end,
You have a life that delights you even though it may not fit the patterns you've been given.
This will work best if you get something to write on and something to write with.
Once you have those things,
First just write down five things you really,
Really like to do.
Then,
Write the names of five people you really,
Really like to be around,
Then five places you really like to hang out,
And maybe five items of clothing you really,
Really like to wear.
Once you've got those lists,
Go to a new page and write down several things you're planning to do in the next few days or weeks.
Once you've done that,
You're going to look for matches,
For commonalities between the things you love and the things you're planning to do.
If you've already been creating a life that matches your true desires,
You'll find a lot of the same things on the two lists.
For example,
If you love gardening and gardening is on your list of things to do,
That's a match.
If you love the people you work with and you're scheduled to meet with some of them,
You've got a match.
The way to create a life you love is to pay close attention to everything that lights you up,
And then begin filling your schedule with those things,
Not all at once,
Maybe five or ten minutes per day.
So maybe you could wear your favorite warm fuzzy slippers when you get up in the morning before you get dressed,
Or connect with the people you love,
Even if it's just by sending them a quick text,
Or putting down your phone to look into a loved one's eyes with full attention.
Go to the places that feel comfortable to you.
You could take a five-minute walk outside,
Or sit in a favorite chair and have a cup of tea.
Take time,
Just a little time,
To do the things you love,
Like listening to music,
Reading one page of a book that inspires you,
Or doodling a design in a sketchbook.
Whatever beautiful,
Small thing you add to your daily activities,
Keep it up for at least four days before you add anything else.
That's all it takes to begin doing this thing naturally,
Making it a normal-feeling part of your life.
It's sort of like stitching that small,
Beautiful piece of fabric to your sanity quilt.
If you do this,
Then little by little,
Your days,
And then your whole life,
Really will begin to shift.
Like a quilter making a sanity quilt,
You'll find that the thing you're creating,
In this case your whole life,
Begins to resonate with your real passions and preferences.
So even if much of your time still goes to other activities,
Your days will gradually begin to feel more and more rewarding,
Joyful,
And creative.
You'll begin to see new possibilities.
You'll come up with new ways to realize your dreams.
This sanity quilt of a life won't look like anyone else's,
Won't follow familiar patterns,
But it will be the life you were meant to live.
Thought for today.
Today and every day,
I not only get to do something I really like,
I must do something I really like.
That's the way I'm going to create the life that's right for me.
Over the past seven days,
You've learned to meet your anxiety with kindness,
Shift your imagination,
Spark creativity,
And design daily practices that bring calm and joy.
Anxiety may still visit you as part of being human,
But now you have tools to meet it differently.
Remember,
Every breath,
Every moment of imagination,
Every act of creativity is a chance to soothe yourself and return to peace.
Carry these practices with you,
Like patches in your own sanity quilt,
Stitching them into daily life.
As you complete this seven-day journey,
What's the biggest shift you've noticed in yourself or the practice you most want to carry forward?
Share your reflections in the challenge forum.
Thank you for joining me for this seven-day anxiety challenge.
I hope these practices continue to support you in the weeks and years ahead.
May you be well,
May you be free,
And may you live with greater ease.
