We’re constantly reminded by our friends and family to be strong in difficult situations. “Be strong, this is just a phase”, “Be strong, this too shall pass”, “Be strong, you can do this, you’ve prepared for this, nothing can go wrong”. And because of this you have to push yourself to become rigid and ignore all the anxious thoughts and possibilities.
The problem is though, when you’re being strong you’re actually just pretending to be strong. Yes that stage fear of giving a speech is shivering you up the ass but your friends say everything’s going to be alright and you frown a little bit and create that strong face. It’s a very helpful strategy to control nervousness but creates a positive feedback loop for the emotions that are being suppressed.
Imagine you just accepting that you’re nervous, accepting that you’re afraid, anxious, doubtful, worried or confused. Doing this tells your consciousness that you’re ready to accept your feelings and appreciate them the way they are. And once you successfully do that, it goes away. The whole point of emotions and feelings is to deliver a message. Your anger wants to say that you’re angry. But when you accept that you’re angry, you’re less likely to be as angry as before. Because now you know the reason why you’re angry.
Acceptance allows you to let the emotions pass instead of suppressing them and doing it on a regular basis would not only make you more aware but stronger, in the right way.
Artwork: https://dribbble.com/shots/11394310-Fear-of-Weather-Small-Talk
Leave a Reply