Humans are strange. Our way of dealing with stress is to summon more of it.
When we’re caught in a tough situation or we get a cold or our luck is different than usual, we tend to say something like:
“This kind of stuff doesn’t happen to me…”
“I’m not the kind of person who…”
“I’m not like this…”
Well, sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but YES YOU ARE.
Right now, you are.
The stress you’re under is bad enough; don’t add another layer to it by bringing in denial and self-loathing. That’s like adding more bars to your underground prison cell, more shadow to your cave.
Because, eventually, you’re going to want to break free, right? And then you’re going to have to saw through those bars. You’re going to have to dig through that dirt. So why create more barriers?
When stress comes at you next time and surrounds you, suffocates you, do something unexpected: say hello.
Reach out and touch the wall of the cave.
It is there, you are experiencing it, that’s the first step to your jail break – recognizing you’re in jail, both the good news and the bad.
But here’s more good news for you:
That stress you feel, those walls that create the darkness, they are separate from you.
Knowing this is the key to your escape.
One final piece of advice: Instead of digging in the dirt and sawing through the bars to go back the way you came, just extend your arms in the darkness, trail your fingertips along the walls, and find the door.