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How do you react when someone offers you a challenge? What do you do when a challenge shows up in your life? I ask these questions because I’m a serial procrastinator due to anxiety. What this means for me is I end up chunking all of my activities together. When I chunk my activities, I group the ones that are similar. I was charged with writing a piece everyday for 31 days. I felt inspired as soon as I said: Heck yes, I’ll do the darn thing.
However, moments afterward, dread set in. My anxiety peaked. After signing up for the challenge, I immediately encountered a barrage of negative thoughts not limited to self-doubt and loathing. I shook my head, vigorously to rid myself of all of the negativity. My partner gave me some encouragement: Do it and do it with heart.
I’ve experienced so many emotions completing this challenge. Here are a few: not feeling good enough, fear of being vulnerable and passionate. The last time I wrote anything for fun feels like light years ago! Every day, I sat down to write, I felt the fear. Some days, I wouldn’t write I felt those feelings of not feeling good enough. Other days, I would just write my heart out. In times when we face challenges, you can be your own worst critic.
Here’s one thing that helped me to own my challenge: I stayed positive despite my fear, anxiety. I felt alive when I was writing so the fear didn’t stay. Procrastination will not serve you if you want to accomplish anything. I may have to work to overcome this daily, yet here I am doing the things.
This is having emotional resiliency. I discovered that completing a task I put so much of myself into gave me a sense of pride. I am at my best when I complete tasks and give 110%. You too, can flex your emotional resiliency muscle. The next time a challenge in life: respond: This is not happening to me. Life is happening FOR me!
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