Here I am sitting in Dublin Airport.
The meeting is over.
I've got a gentle glow about myself because it went well.
Nothing dramatic,
It just went well.
Nothing went wrong.
And yet,
If I'm honest,
My nervous system has been busy for days.
Before the trip even began,
My mind was way ahead of me.
What if the taxi doesn't show up?
What if I miss my flight?
What if I make a fool out of myself,
Mess up the meeting?
What if I don't sleep and I'm exhausted before I even begin?
It was a very early start.
A very long day,
Flying there,
Having the meeting and back all in that one day.
My mind painted the whole thing in shades of strain and difficulty.
And now I'm sitting here,
A late coffee in hand,
Body intact and the meeting's done.
And I can see it so clearly.
This is the negativity bias at work.
The mind's habit of scanning for what might go wrong,
While quietly overlooking everything that might go right.
It never occurred to me,
Not with the same emotional force,
How good it might feel to have completed the meeting,
How satisfying it might be to show up and do the thing,
How capable I actually am.
Why is it so hard to give these possibilities equal airtime?
And if I look even more closely,
Another question arises.
Why am I so concerned about uncomfortable feelings anyway?
Tiredness from no sleep,
Fatigue,
Nervousness,
Challenge.
Why?
They're just sensations,
They're just movements in the body,
Just weather passing through.
What's so terrible about being tired for a day?
What's wrong with being stretched a little?
And won't my bed feel even more welcoming tonight because of the effort I've made today and because I need it from a lack of sleep?
The negativity bias evolved to protect us.
It kept our ancestors alive by making sure they noticed danger first.
But the brain hasn't changed.
And in modern life,
It often overshoots its usefulness.
It convinces us that discomfort is a problem,
That uncertainty is a threat,
That life needs to be controlled before it can be enjoyed.
And without noticing,
We start living slightly braced,
Always scanning,
Always preparing always one step away from where we actually are.
What helps isn't forcing the mind to be positive.
We can't hold that door open for very long.
What happens is seeing the pattern gently,
Noticing how the mind leads towards the negative and from this learning not to believe every story it tells.
Sometimes that noticing alone is enough to loosen the grip.
As I sit here now,
There's nothing dramatic to fix.
Just breath moving in and out.
The low hum of the airport.
People passing.
Life continuing.
The meeting happened.
The fear didn't need to be obeyed.
The day held me.
And tomorrow,
We'll explore something very simple and very close at hand.
A place the mind often overlooks,
Even though it's always here.
Tomorrow,
Together we'll look at what's hidden in the breath.
See you then.
