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How to Clown Around With Anxiety
When I find myself spiraling into worse case scenarios, which is happening these days about every 90 minutes, I try to jolt myself out of it with the mantra, HOPE/TRUST. I do this because a therapist friend suggested I need to have more “trust” that everything is going to “work out,” so even if I don’t really believe it right now, I’m going to pretend. HOPE/TRUST. The anxiety is spreading to silly, mundane things, like, will I get a parking spot on the right side of the street to avoid a ticket, when there are so many bulky garbage cans out tonight taking up precious space? HOPE/TRUST. Or, will the rain that’s being forecast on Friday, delay my flight to San Francisco, and make me miss a hair color appointment? HOPE/TRUST. What’s your mantra?
Image: Untitled #425 by Cindy Sherman. See her retrospective starting 2/26 at MOMA.
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A friend of mine recently told me this (roughly translated from Spanish): “If there’s a solution, why worry? If there isn’t a solution, why worry?” I’ve found this helpful, since I tend to be a worrier.
There’s also this one –
Don’t worry twice
“Keep Calm, Carry On” is one that I just received in the form of a lovely framed lithograph. It’s become pretty popular in the realm of home decoration, but honestly, it’s just a wonderful thing to look at each morning, when I’m about to go off to my crazy job! Helps me, and I guess it also helped the citizens of London during the Blitz (for which the poster was intended). What else can one do, but “Keep Calm and Carry On”?
You just reminded me of a Louise Bourgeois poster I have framed in my hallway, with the words, Be Calm. Thanks!