Some Things I've Learned

I've learned that anxiety and stress are not inevitable, but result from choices I make.  I've learned that anxiety is a sign that I'm not being present, and that engaging in an action, however small, with full attention will quickly take me out of the anxious state.  Eventually I connected the dots and realized that this works because the act of "doing" occurs in the present moment, and when I bring my mind to what I'm doing, my mind becomes present, and anxiety fades away.

I've learned to recognize when my mind wants to take a tangent, follow a distraction, and how to say "no," I'm staying here with what I'm doing.

I've learned that getting things done feels good, and that working on lots of things but not finishing them leads to stress piling up.  After years of doing crossword puzzles and thinking that I liked doing them, I realized that what I most liked was the feeling of finishing them.  I decided I might feel better about work if I changed how I approached it so I would get more done, and I was right.

I've learned that it's important to create space in life, and not fill every instant with effort.  I've learned to take a pause and relax, so that tension doesn't carry forward from on thing to the next.

I've learned to back away from urgency, and allow things to happen in their own time.  I've learned to find the flow, and be content.