Getting unstuck from fear & worry

What happens when you stick with fear and worry, even after the danger has passed? 

Difficult experiences often mark us. A feeling of humiliation at a school presentation builds lifelong anxiety around public speaking. A manager’s stringent demands create the idea that what you’re doing is not enough, resulting in worries about your performance. A child’s accident with a hot cup of tea fuels constant vigilance about what they might touch next. 

Learning from experience is part of our development. However, like these “Danger” signs in the sunshine on Brighton beach after Storm Bert, our future-gazing selves often dwell on risks and dangers in extensive cycles of worry. We might not even know how they started. 

 It’s nothing unusual - but what is it like to be jostled in these waves of worry? 

Beyond any learning and safeguarding, the fearful and speculative  ‘what ifs’ can send us into a spiral of stress and anxiety that stops any forward movement.

It’s possible to choose another way. How do you want to relate to the future?