Have you ever shot a charging lion?

June 01, 2017 1:40 PM

Humans first developed the ability to feel anxious because it was evolutionarily advantageous.

Butterflies in the stomach helped protect the tribe from incoming predators.

But that was a million years ago. The modern day problem with anxiety is, it makes our minds contract. It seduces us into focusing on the immediate threat without considering the broader context of our lives.

We allow one bad mood, one fruitless moment or one small mistake to occlude our view from the totality of our humanity.

This diminishes our sense of progress. It murders our momentum. The thief of the mind robs us of the abundance of the full spectrum of life’s rewards.

I have tons of these bonehead moments. When my sense of competency and success and happiness are suddenly erased. And it’s deeply deflating.

But what I’ve learned to do is throw myself am emotional lifeline. To look back on past victories and reinforce the belief that I’ve already made significant progress.

For example, I keep my list of goals for the year in my pocket at all times. Because no matter how anxious I’m feeling, I can always take it out and remind myself that, in the long run, my successes dramatically outweigh my failures. That this little situation is not as important as my anxiety says it is.

And so, next time you feel a lion charging, contextualize whatever ails you within the larger ecosystem of life.

You’ll discover that this one negative moment is but a momentary blip on the beautiful radar of your journey.

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Are you focusing too narrowly on the threatening aspects of the situation, rather than seeing the whole picture?

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Scott Ginsberg

That Guy with the Nametag

Author. Speaker. Strategist. Inventor. Filmmaker. Publisher. Songwriter.

[email protected]

www.nametagscott.com