Alright, let’s get real here. For those who’ve been following my journey on Instagram and other platforms, you know I’ve been wrestling with a bit of anxiety lately. It’s nothing new, just a pesky guest that pops up once every few years, maybe even a decade.
I didn’t get here overnight. I didn’t wake up one morning and think, “I fancy some anxiety today.” It’s a slow build, a gradual process that brought me to this place of discomfort. And even though I’d give anything to shake off this uneasy feeling, I remind myself that just as it didn’t arrive in a day, it ain’t gonna disappear overnight either.
This is where our mental practices come in. Can we sit with the discomfort when it shows up? ‘Cause let me tell you, it’s gonna show up. We all have our battles to fight, our struggles to overcome. None of us are alone in this. What we’ve got to remember is that our troubles ain’t booking a one-way ticket out of our lives tomorrow.
Our minds and bodies aren’t like dealing with the common cold, where some rest and a vitamin boost have us back on our feet the next day. There’s a delay to this process. The actual anxious situation isn’t what triggers my anxiety, but it’s the aftermath, the comedown that gets me. It could even be the aftershock of stress piled up over years. Who knows?
The point is, it’s a process. The mental wellness practices we uphold – be it meditation, journaling, or anything else, they’re not one-and-done solutions. They’re like training for a marathon or nailing a basketball shot. It takes consistent effort over time.
So here’s the challenge: Can you sit with the discomfort? Can you miss that basketball shot over and over again, fumble your jiu-jitsu moves, botch your video edits, or even just feel out of sorts, but still show up? Still do the work? Can you keep going, keep pushing, so that one day, you can look back and say, “This too has passed?”
‘Cause that’s what the real winners do. They put in the work, even when it’s uncomfortable. They keep at it, knowing that the discomfort today is just paving the way for triumph tomorrow.
