Risk Your Significance and Live a Full Life
I came across a really cool quote a few weeks back,
"I will not die an unlived life. I will not live in fear of falling or catching fire. I choose to inhabit my days, to allow my living to open me, to make me less afraid, more accessible, to loosen my heart until it becomes a wing, a torch, a promise. I choose to risk my significance; to live so that which comes to me as seed goes to the next as blossom and that which comes to me as blossom, goes on as fruit."
-Dawna Markova
Anxiety and Being Out of Your Comfort Zone
So many days I spend not wanting to leave the house. Not wanting to get dressed or see anyone, rather wanting to just sit and watch television in my comfortable existence, because then I don't have to deal with any anxiety that may or may not arise. But this quote makes me realize that it's worth the chance to get up, get dressed, and go out and be with people. Making friends, having relationships, making memories are all worth the risk of being uncomfortable.
The Rewards of Fighting Anxiety
What are your plans for this Memorial Day holiday weekend? Are you making plans with friends and family or are you basking in the opportunity to do absolutely nothing?
We are going t
o spend the week on vacation with some family at the beach. I don't want a cluttered trip of lots of sight seeing, rather a relaxing getaway listening to the sounds of the ocean, digging my feet in the sand, and watching my little girl play in the sand.
Its very risky for me since traveling far from home usually raises my anxiety, but I know its important to make these family memories that I am going to risk it. I just need to plan for the worst case scenario so that I can be prepared and that will help reduce the anxiety for me. (Read: 4 Ways to Prevent Travel Anxiety)
If you feel you are shutting people out of your life because you are worried about your anxiety, I challenge you to do something out of your normal comfort zone this weekend. Do something that frightens you, and let people into your life.
For me, I will accept this challenge by traveling far from home, on an airplane no less, going out to many meals in public with extended family, and forcing myself to deal with my anxiety in these situations.
What will you do that is out of your comfort zone?
APA Reference
White, A.
(2010, May 28). Risk Your Significance and Live a Full Life, HealthyPlace. Retrieved
on 2024, December 21 from https://www.healthyplace.com/blogs/anxiety-panic/2010/05/risk-your-significance-and-live-a-full-life
Author: Aimee White
This weekend I've been invited to a party by my cousin and her family, whom I do not see often. My anxiety caused me to turn down the invite but, then I thought about it and got brave and accepted the invitation. Now I'm anxious again about going. I have a fear that I will not be accepted by my family, that I will just sit quietly in a corner with no one to talk to. In the past I have never experienced anything like this happening, so i can't understand why I fear this so much? I HATE anxiety!
I too am housebound by anxiety. I have DID and have a VERY SCARED PART that won't leave the house without a BIG WAR. At therapy this week, I found out that she is very young (probably an infant) who feels that she has found a safe place in our home and that outside these walls, someone (unknown to her) will hurt her. WOW!! What a horrendous world she has been living in. Through therapy (hopefully), she now has me to protect her from all harm. And hopefully, now I will be able to go out much more easily without the battles and wars that we have been having for many, many years. Up until now, I could go out if someone would come and pick me up, but going out on my own was a battle that would go on for days and days and days. Can't wait to see if things have changed. ANXIETY IS A TERRIBLE BALL AND CHAIN TO DRAG AROUND WITH YOU!!!