A couple vacationing in Colorado rented a tandem bicycle and decided to attack Pikes Peak. As they began the ascent, they both soaked in the Rocky Mountain sunshine and the crisp air.
The difficulty of the climb hit earlier than they expected, and the thin air stole away the oxygen they desperately needed.
After a seemingly unending climb, the couple finally reached the top and nearly collapsed to the ground.
The wife turned around and panted, “That was the hardest climb I have ever done in my life:’ “You can say that again;’ the husband gasped. “And if I hadn’t kept the brakes on for all of it, we could have rolled backwards.”
The husband was so anxious they were going to roll back wards he applied the brakes and made the bike ride harder than it had to be.
A little anxiety isn’t bad, it can motivate us to move off dead center or to be sharp in our presentation but too much anxiety can be destructive.
I used to be very anxious.
I would sit in front of my computer and wring my hands over all the possibilities that might happen that would ruin the project I was working on.
I was making my own life miserable.
My anxiety was making me too tired to be productive.
How you ask?
When we let anxieties take over the main room in our brain and spirit. This stops us from being creative and productive.
Anxiety can do that. It can paralyze us from moving forward.
I started to examine what was making me so anxious. Anxiety is a secondary emotion of fear. I had to be honest with myself and understand what I was afraid of?
For me, it was the fear of failure. Of not succeeding at what I was attempting to accomplish. I was afraid if I failed people would get mad and not like me or be disappointed in me.
I realized I was ‘putting on the brakes’ in my own spirit and making myself feel inferior to who I really was.
The opposite of anxiety is trust. Learning to trust in myself and the journey we are on is a big part of life.
I learned to implement these steps which helped me move from anxiousness to trustfulness.
First Step – Acknowledge the Anxiety You Are Feeling
What is causing you to feel so anxious? Are you afraid of failing? Are you afraid you will not succeed at what you are attempting to accomplish?
Make a list of all the things you are anxious about. Get it out of your mind and put it on paper. These feelings have power over us when we are not aware of what we are holding onto inside.
By writing them on paper, you are able to get a real perspective on what has been whirling around in your mind.
Second Step – Eliminate Unnecessary Fear
Ask your self, ”What is the worst thing that could happen if I failed at what I was anxious about?”
When I play this scenario out, I realize things might not go the way I had hoped but it would not destroy me.
At the core, we are afraid we will become discounted and diminished so badly we will lose our self-worth.
When we ask ourselves this question, we will realize, we might lose a lot of what we have (material items) but we will not be destroyed.
I am sure you have had many trials and difficult situations already in your life.
Did you survive those times? Yes, and you might have not just survived but thrived.
It is good to remind ourselves that we have a much stronger spirit than we think.
If you struggle with this step you should read my post The Secret To Overcoming Limiting Beliefs.
Third Step – Gain Understanding
The Third Step was the key for me.
To understand we are not Human Beings on a spiritual journey but Spiritual Beings on a human journey.
There is a God (a higher power, a ultimate consciousness,) that is guiding and protecting us.
I love these words of Jesus…
Matthew 6: 25 “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?
26 Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?
28 And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, 29 yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
30 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31 Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’
32 Your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
I realized the key was to trust. Trust myself; trust the One that gave me life and know that God will guide you.
Be a Miracle
Jerry